Pentagon confirms US has already spent $25 billion | Political News

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces questioning from lawmakers Wednesday for the first time since the Trump administration launched the struggle against Iran, his division admitted that the Iran struggle has price an estimated $25 billion to date.

Most of the fee has gone to munitions, Pentagon official tells Congress in a listening to. The listening to before the House Armed Services Committee is being held to focus on the administration’s 2027 navy price range proposal, which might increase protection spending to a historic $1.5 trillion.

Jules Hurst III, the appearing undersecretary of struggle for funds, said most of the bills have been on munitions, but the navy has also spent money on operating operations and changing gear.

“We will formulate a supplemental through the White House that will come to Congress once we have a full assessment of the cost of the conflict,” Hurst added.

Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, are anticipated to stress the need for more drones, missile protection systems, and warships.

Democrats have contested as a pricey battle of selection waged without congressional approval, pivot to the ballooning prices of the Iran struggle, the large drawdown of important U.S. munitions, and the bombing of a faculty that killed youngsters. Some lawmakers also might query how ready the navy was to shoot down swarms of Iranian drones, some of which penetrated U.S. defenses and killed or injured American troops.

During the listening to, Hegseth told Democratic Rep. Adam Smith that Iran’s nuclear services had been obliterated in a 2025 assault by the U.S., prompting Smith to query the Trump administration’s reasoning for beginning the Iran struggle.

“We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat,” Smith said. “Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?”

Hegseth responded by saying that Iran “had not given up their nuclear ambitions” and still had hundreds of missiles. Smith said the struggle “left us at exactly the same place we were before.”

The protection secretary also confronted intense questions from Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, about what American households would have to pay due to the financial repercussions of the struggle with Iran.

“Do you know how much it will cost Americans in terms of their increased cost in gas and food over the next year because of the Iran war?” Khanna requested.

Pete Hegseth retorted, “I would simply ask you what the cost is of an Iranian nuclear bomb.”

Khanna then accused Hegseth and the Trump administration of failing to live up to the president’s marketing campaign guarantees of reducing the fee of residing for Americans. He argued that Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would trigger American households to pay hundreds more {dollars} for gasoline and food.

“I’m sad for all the people who voted for Trump. I’m sad for them because you betrayed them,” Khanna said.