Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی
Trump's budget director Vought declines to tell senators cost of Iran war
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, declined to give senators an estimate of the cost of the military operations against Iran when pressed on the issue during a hearing Thursday.
Vought said the White House is working on a request for additional defense funding but declined to offer an estimate of how much the war has cost taxpayers so far, telling lawmakers that the costs “fluctuate” day to day.
Asked by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) if the administration has already spent $50 billion on the conflict, as some media reports have indicated, Vought said: “I wouldn’t make a characterization of that at this point.”
That answer didn’t sit well with the senior Democrat, who told Vought, “I would expect you to have pretty good numbers on that so I’m a little disappointed in that answer.”
Vought also declined to confirm reports that the administration is planning to submit a request for $80 billion to $100 billion to fund military operations against Iran.
“If you were to be on the inside of the Department of War, these costs would fluctuate given the day. So I think it’s hard to give you an average cost,” Vought said.
Senators believe the war is costing the administration roughly $10 billion a week, but that number has yet to be officially confirmed by the White House or Pentagon.
Merkley later accused Vought of trying to “hide” the cost of the war at a time when the federal debt is more than $38 trillion.
“He doesn’t want a number to be out there because it’s a big number and it’s very disturbing to Americans that we’re spending 1 to 2 billion dollars a day” on the conflict, he told The Hill.
The White House requested $1.5 trillion in defense spending in its budget proposal for fiscal 2027, but that amount does not include the supplemental funding it wants Congress to approve soon for the military conflict with Iran.
Vought told senators that the White House is “working” on a request for supplemental defense funding to cover the costs of the military operations against Iran.