Democratic Senators Want Pentagon to Publicly Reveal Cost of Iran War to US Military Bases

Five Democratic senators have requested public financials from the Pentagon regarding the cost of damage to U.S. military bases and facilities amid the ongoing war with Iran.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) authored a letter on Sunday to Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), saying that the senators had learned the cost of the damage during a classified briefing led by Cooper. They are requesting that figure to be made public.

“The American people deserve to know the full cost of the Trump administration’s unauthorized war against Iran. … “Even if [the Department of Defense] has not yet determined which facilities it is planning to rebuild, disclosing these costs represents the bare minimum transparency DOD owes the public,” the senators wrote.

The letter’s other signers were Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Gary Peters of Michigan.

Military.com reached out to the Pentagon for comment. The Pentagon referred Military.com to CENTCOM.

Financial Toll on Military Installations

A recent report by the Pentagon’s inspector general, utilizing State Department estimates, found that as of June 30, Iranian damage to U.S. embassies, consulates and other diplomatic facilities had cost $184 million.

The report did not include an estimate for military installations.

The letter added that the “war has caused significant damage to the U.S.’s critical infrastructure in the region,” but there had been “a lack of clarity and candor” from the administration about “U.S. bases and facilities damaged and destroyed by Iran.”

“The administration’s ongoing efforts to hide the true cost of this war are outrageous and unacceptable,” they wrote.

Americans Feel Financial Brunt of War Costs

The senators in their letter said that Americans had “felt the cost of this war at home” and noted surging “prices for gasoline, diesel, fertilizer” and other products as driving inflation in the U.S.

A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Sunday shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating at a record-low 33%, including 65% of survey respondents saying that the Trump administration’s war with Iran was a mistake.

Another 71% correlated the Middle East military operation to issues of cost and affordability. Gas prices in some states have increased roughly 50%, according to NBC News.

A CBS News/YouGov poll found that 91% of Texans believe the war is making oil and gas prices in the U.S. “a lot higher” or “a little higher.”

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a report estimating that the war, up to early September, had cost approximately $43.6 billion. The same report estimated that a total of 81 U.S. military aircraft have been destroyed or damaged during the war.

In July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Senate Appropriations Committee lawmakers that the Department of Defense required $1.5 trillion to fund the ongoing conflict and that, if it didn’t, it would create a great “threat” to the U.S.

The Pentagon previously also requested Congress to authorize $80 billion in additional war spending.