Hegseth tells the Senate the war with Iran has cost $37.5bn, up from $29bn in May

"The estimate we have as of today is $37.5bn." That is how Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth put the running cost of the war with Iran to the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 21. In May the figure was $29bn. It has risen by more than a quarter since, and the strikes are still going.

Hegseth testified alongside General John D. Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, at a hearing on President Trump's supplemental funding request of June 24. Susan Collins presided. The request pairs the war with unrelated spending, which is why an agriculture secretary sat at the same table as the Pentagon's two most senior officials.

The Defense Department is seeking roughly $67bn in supplemental funds tied to the campaign and other military costs, according to Defense News. That is money Congress has not appropriated. The $37.5bn is what has already been spent, on the administration's own account, and the two numbers are what the hearing was called to reconcile. The campaign has run nightly against Iran without pause, and its cost is now a question in front of appropriators rather than only in front of commanders.