Claudia Grisales
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Pentagon officials estimate the Iran war has cost $29 billion so far, but that does not include repairs to U.S.
facilities attacked by Iran that could add billions more to that price tag.
The Pentagon plans to ask for supplemental funding on top of a $1.5 trillion budget proposal for the next fiscal year that Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth argues will remake the military.
But amid an unpopular war, many lawmakers are expressing bipartisan frustration over the administration's shifting plans concerning Iran and a lack of information tied to their historic spending plans.
No, and even that figure does not paint a full picture.
Pentagon officials admitted that it doesn't include repairs to U.S.
facilities that have been hit by Iran.
We heard Senate Democrat Jack Reed press Pentagon Comptroller Jay Hurst on this exact question.
So I talked to Mark Kansian.
He's senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he's been tracking the costs of the war.
CSIS estimates that these repairs alone could add at least another $4 billion to the final price tag.
And getting that full picture is key because the Pentagon expects to ask for supplemental funding on top of all of this to pay for the war.
Right, and it's a big increase from last year's defense budget of $1 trillion.
It's the largest such ask in history.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argues that it's part of a plan to reverse years of underinvestment in the military.
But lawmakers in both parties say they need to know how all that money is going to be spent before they can sign off.
Take a listen to House Democratic Appropriator Betty McCollum raising this.
No, not really.
Hexeth couldn't give an estimate when that could happen.