WASHINGTON — Facing down senators’ questions about an Iran spending request, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that he expects “certain aspects” of the Iran war to cost $37.5 billion through the end of September.
During a hearing on Capital Hill today Hegseth did not detail just what is excluded from that total but said by the end of fiscal 2026, or Sept. 30, it would cover military pay, operation and maintenance, and other “anticipated costs.” That figure is up from the $25 billion price tag given in late April and the $29 billion offered a month later for costs incurred so far.
It’s tens of billions of dollars less, however, than the $67.1 billion the Trump administration has requested in defense funds it says it needs related to the Iran conflict as part of a larger, nearly $90 billion supplemental request. The administration has said that money would pay for everything from restocking munitions to drone purchases to classified programs.
Hegseth, alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee today in support of the supplemental, repeatedly saying that it — plus the Trump administration’s unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense budget request — represented a “generational” investment in the military.
