Shaheen, Hassan Demand Answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Cost of Iran War Shaheen, Hassan Demand Answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Cost of Iran War

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined their Senate colleagues in a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding a full accounting of the costs of the ongoing war with Iran. The letter also criticized the Department of Defense for withholding basic budget information from Congress and the American public even as U.S. casualties and taxpayer costs continue to increase. The United States is now more than six months into a conflict President Trump initially said would last four to six weeks. Eighteen American servicemembers have been killed and more than 820 wounded, while over 50,000 troops are currently deployed to the Middle East. In the letter, Shaheen and her colleagues note that deployments, including for the USS Lincoln and the 82nd Airborne, have been repeatedly extended, and that their offices have heard directly from military families worried about loved ones serving in the conflict. The Senators wrote, in part: “We write regarding the Department of Defense’s failure to provide the American people with basic information about the war with Iran and its cost to taxpayers, even as the human costs of this war rise. More than six months into a war that the President said would last six weeks, 18 American servicemembers have been killed, 824 have been wounded, and more than 50,000 troops are currently deployed in the Middle East. Our troops have had their deployments extended repeatedly, as with the USS Lincoln and now the 82nd Airborne. Our offices have all received outreach from military families concerned about the safety and well-being of their loved ones serving and sacrificing in this war.” They continued: “In the last week, the Congressional Budget Office and the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General have issued their own reports with inconsistent numbers. Despite your stated needs, you have repeatedly refused to share basic information that previous Administrations, Republican and Democratic, provided to the American public and Congress during times of war.” The Senators concluded: “Despite asking for tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars, you have so far failed to provide basic information on how this money has and will be spent. Congress must have access to this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities. It is the bare minimum that any American would expect in balancing their own household budget. You shared this belief before entering government. In 2012, you criticized the Department’s ability to ‘shift literally hundreds of millions of dollars from program to program with little accountability.’ You added, ‘[r]eforming the culture at the Pentagon to bring greater spending accountability will be difficult, but it’s long overdue.’ And just last year, you said that ‘the American taxpayers deserve’ to know where their money goes, ‘how it's spent and make sure it's spent wisely.’ We agree.” Shaheen, Hassan and their colleagues are requesting that the Department of Defense provide: A detailed breakdown of all direct and indirect costs of military operations against Iran to date, including damage to installations, aircraft, and equipment. A full accounting of the $67 billion supplemental request, specifying what covers past costs versus future operations. A detailed plan for how the Pentagon intends to spend the remaining $34 billion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The full text of the letter can be found HERE. The letter was led by Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). Shaheen, Hassan and Slotkin were joined on the letter by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John W. Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Timothy Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacklyn Rosen (D-NV), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Since President Trump began his war in Iran, Senator Shaheen has continued to grill Secretary Hegseth and top Administration officials about their lack of strategy and transparency surrounding the conflict. In August, following the Pentagon’s unprecedented recategorization of casualties suffered in the war, Shaheen helped introduce the Honoring the Sacrifices of Our Troops in War Act to ban the U.S. Secretary of Defense from manipulating casualty records and jeopardizing the benefits of our service members and public servants. Shaheen also joined her colleagues on a letter to the Department of Defense demanding a full and accurate accounting of all service member casualties in support of or in connection with Operation Epic Fury. In June, Shaheen pressed Secretary Hegseth on the cost of the war and questioned why the American people were being asked to further absorb the cost of the war when the Department still has unspent funding. Senator Hassan has consistently opposed President Trump’s reckless war in Iran, which has cost service members their lives and has also increased costs here at home for families. As Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, Senator Hassan has released reports about the additional $83+ billion that families nationwide have spent on gas since the beginning of the war — which has cost the average family in the United States an additional $699 in gas costs. Additionally, the Joint Economic Committee — Minority under Senator Hassan recently released an analysis that found that President Trump has personally gained $15.5 million from Big Oil and Gas stocks that he owns since he launched his war and gave oil and gas companies sky-high profits as oil prices surged. ###