Hegseth Estimates Iran War Has Cost $37.5 Billion

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, under questioning from lawmakers, said on Tuesday that the Defense Department’s latest estimate of the cost of the Iran war was $37.5 billion.

Mr. Hegseth gave the estimate during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

The figure is about a $12 billion increase over the $25 billion estimate he gave in late April, just before President Trump negotiated a temporary cease-fire with Iran.

Mr. Hegseth and the Trump administration are requesting as much as $70 billion in emergency military spending to cover the costs of the Iran war and pay for new weapons and personnel.

The Pentagon is asking for $46 billion to expand production lines and accelerate delivery of high-demand munitions, like precision bombs, hypersonic missiles and counter-drone systems.

“This is a new request based on new realities of a world we face, stepping up to meet that moment,” Mr. Hegseth said.

Senate Democrats and some Republicans expressed doubts about the need for billions of war funding in addition to the $1.5 trillion the Pentagon was asking for in the upcoming defense budget.

“This administration has tried to sell this as an emergency request, but it may be better understood as an attempt to skirt the normal appropriations process,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

“The problem is not a lack of money, but poor planning,” she said. “So I’ll be blunt. The truth is, your request does not make a lot of sense.”

Mr. Hegseth blamed the Biden administration for the size of the Pentagon’s emergency funding request.

“This kind of spending is needed because of the gross negligence and neglect of the Biden administration inside our department,” Mr. Hegseth said. He spoke of the need to modernize the military as war was changing rapidly with the advent of cheap and plentiful drones.

Typically, the Pentagon modernization efforts are supposed to be paid for through the regular budget, rather than emergency supplemental requests of the sort Mr. Hegseth was asking for on Tuesday.

On July 8, President Trump declared that the cease-fire was over, and hostilities have resumed. Late last week an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan killed two U.S. soldiers and left another soldier missing, but remains found at the scene are believed to be those of the missing soldier.

At least 50 people in Iran have been killed in U.S. strikes since the truce ended, according to the Iranian authorities.