Gillibrand, Colleagues Demand Answers From Hegseth On Cost Of Iran War

Pentagon Greatly Underestimates Cost of Iran War to Taxpayers and Families U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined 45 of her colleagues, nearly the entire Democratic caucus, in sending 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 (DoD) for withholding basic budget information from Congress and the American public even as U.S. casualties and taxpayer costs continue to increase. “Secretary Hegseth’s tenure at DoD continues to be marred by blatant carelessness and incompetent leadership that has endangered our troops, jeopardized our national security, and left working families paying higher costs,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Now he is asking for tens of billions more to fund President Trump’s reckless war while refusing to reveal its true cost. That is completely unacceptable, and Secretary Hegseth must be held accountable and give taxpayers a straight answer about how this administration is spending their hard-earned money.” The United States is now more than six months into a conflict President Trump initially said would last six weeks. Eighteen American servicemembers have been killed and more than 820 wounded, and over 50,000 troops are currently deployed to the Middle East. In the letter, Gillibrand 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. “At home, American taxpayers have already paid an extra $100 billion out of their pockets for higher gas and diesel prices alone and at least another $60 billion in higher costs for things like groceries, mortgages, and plane tickets as a result of the war,” the senators wrote. “Now you are asking that they pay again to fund a war of choice that Congress never authorized and the President launched with no strategic plan.” In their letter, the senators highlight the contrast between the current Pentagon’s transparency record with past wartime practice, noting that Hegseth has briefed Congress only seven times in six months and held just eight Pentagon press briefings or interviews since the war began, compared to more than 70 press briefings in the first month of the Iraq War alone. The senators also criticized the administration’s public supplemental funding request as a seven-page document offering only vague line items, in contrast to the detailed, hundred-page supplemental requests provided to Congress during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Gillibrand and the senators 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 . “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,” the senators continued. “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.” Senator Gillibrand has repeatedly pressed the administration to disclose the true harm of President Trump’s Iran war. In July, she called out Hegseth over the Pentagon’s inaccurate public casualty reporting, pushing for a full and accurate accounting of the human cost of the war, and demanded the release of DoD’s long-delayed investigation into the U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 100 children. She also pushed for hearings after reports that service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln were left without adequate food and medical care. In addition to Senator Gillibrand, the letter was signed by 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), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). The full text of the letter is available here . ###