U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth estimates cost of Iran war at $37.5 billion

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday (July 21, 2026) the Iran war has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May.

“The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion,” Mr. Hegseth testified during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at which he defended a request for some $67 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon.

Mr. Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress the funding request is “urgent” and “necessary” to pay the Pentagon’s costs for the Iran war through the end of September. But Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen challenged that assessment, saying Mr. Hegseth still has $75 billion available in unspent funding. “Why are you asking the American people to absorb the cost of a war they don’t support instead of asking for transfer authority for unspent reconciliation funding?”

Mr. Hegseth said the unspent money was “otherwise allocated” for President Donald Trump’s other priorities, such as the “Golden Dome for America and hypersonics and other munitions investments.” The requested funds do not include what it will cost to rebuild U.S. military bases in West Asia. Lawmakers voiced frustration as they pressed for details of the Trump administration’s strategy to win the war in West Asia.

Demands for transparency crossed partisan lines, with Republican Senator John Kennedy saying “we need some hard answers and some straight talk” when he asked what would happen if the U.S. just left the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Caine did not offer specifics for whether Iran would impose fees for ships seeking passage.