The Costs of the U.S. War with Iran and Congress Races Toward August Recess
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What every listener and every viewer might be saying is, why are they doing this? I can get a peptide right now by just going online. All of those uses of peptides technically are not sanctioned by any health professionals, and they are technically not allowed, meaning they're not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
Hey, everybody, and welcome to Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Basugan. So today on the show, we are talking about peptides. You see it on your Instagram. You see it on your TikTok. Should you take them? We've got the answers for you today. Plus, the House is breaking for its August recess, but they have a lot on their agenda, including funding the government and passing the SAVE Act. We're talking to Ryan Nobles about that. Up first, though, four U.S. service members who were killed by Iranian strikes arrived at Dover Air Force Base today for a dignified transfer. And before they arrived, President Trump upped the ante. He posted on True Social that the U.S. would retaliate for any time Iran, quote, shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz with a hit on critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the administration is facing questions over the skyrocketing financial cost of the war, which they say is about $37.5 billion so far. But some officials say the true cost of the war is a lot higher. So for this, I want to bring in NBC News national security and global affairs reporter Dan DeLuce. Hi, Dan.
Hello. How are you?
I'm good. So today with the dignified transfer of the four U.S. service members, we are, of course, reminded of the personal cost of this war. But yesterday we had the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who was pressed by the Senate Appropriations Committee over the monetary cost, the financial cost of this war by both Republicans, by the way, and Democrats. What exactly is Secretary Hegseth asking for and what was the response he got in that room?
He's asking Aspen for more than $33 billion for what he called anticipated costs. But keep in mind that already the Pentagon had requested from Congress earlier this year more than $800 billion for their budget. He did not get the most welcoming reception by Democrats and even some Republicans, who were really questioning the course of the war, the strategy, what is the objective, why is the war still going on, and why is it costing so much? One senator, Senator Murray from the state of Washington, said, that figure you're giving us of about $33 billion or so, that sounds suspiciously low. Mm-hmm. She was saying, you know, we expect this bill to be much higher. So they really felt they were not getting a straight picture from the secretary.
That was the message a lot of lawmakers had for him. But what was interesting is he wasn't including in this request the cost of repairing bases or damaged aircraft or replenishing the munitions, the bombs and the weapons that are quite expensive that have been used and burned through So we've reported, our colleagues Courtney Kuby and Gordon Lubold have been reporting that, you know, this figure that he requested yesterday of over $30 billion does not include the cost of repairing all these bases that have been damaged by Iranian missile and drone attacks, for example.
So he's not basically saying the money is for what's happening really now or rebuilding from what has happened over the last few months, but instead kind of future casting in a way, which brings me to my next point, because I mentioned the president's true social posts as I came to you, where he threatened to, quote unquote, bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant any time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The president has signaled this war is not ending. What do those attacks mean for this overall budget?
Well, the longer the war goes on and the more there are bombing attacks on Iran and air raids when we're using, the U.S. is using missiles, bombs, fighter aircraft, refueling those aircraft, using interceptors to shoot down the missiles that are coming at our Arab allies and Israel.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:26
2
How much has the U.S.-Iran war reportedly cost so far and who disputes that number?
4:26–9:03
3
What did Secretary Pete Hegseth ask Congress for and how did lawmakers react?
9:03–18:46
4
How could continued strikes and threats against Iranian infrastructure affect Pentagon spending?
18:46–24:06
5
Are President Trump’s infrastructure threats likely to change Iran’s calculations or U.S. strategy?
24:06–25:50
Speakers
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