Iran War’s Price Tag, Pegged at $38 Billion, Is Growing as Much as $3 Billion a Month
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office also estimates five years needed to replace missile interceptors
- The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Pentagon spent about $38 billion in the first few months of the war with Iran.
- The nonpartisan agency estimates the war is costing up to $3 billion a month and will require at least five years to replace missile interceptors.
- The Trump administration has requested $67 billion to cover the costs of the war and other military needs, which Congress hasn’t approved.
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon spent some $38 billion in its first few months of the war with Iran and will need at least five years to replace the missile interceptors it expended trying to defend U.S. troops and bases, according to a nonpartisan congressional office.
The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that the war is likely to cost an additional $2 billion to $3 billion a month. The tally doesn’t include the costs of rebuilding U.S. bases damaged in the war and could increase if fighting intensifies.
The assessment comes as President Trump is trying to determine next steps in the war. Iran hasn’t agreed to his demands to relinquish its nuclear program, and Trump in recent weeks has tried to pivot to economic pressure.
Democrats seized on the official accounting of war costs to criticize the Trump administration’s decision to go to war.
“Donald Trump and Republicans have spent years telling Americans that we cannot afford to help families here at home, but apparently they can find tens of billions of dollars, and potentially much more, for a reckless war that is leaving Americans to pay the price,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee who requested the report.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, called the war a “one-two punch that’s burning a hole in Americans’ pockets and burning a hole in our munitions supply, hurting our military readiness.”
In its report, CBO cautioned that it was uncertain about its estimates because the Defense Department didn’t respond to its requests for information.
Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg is expected to brief both Republican and Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday about the defense budget, according to people familiar with the matter.
The budget office’s estimate of $38 billion in war costs, which covers operations until Aug. 1, largely tracks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s public testimony this summer. The report also provides details on the likely cost of munitions, estimating the U.S. will need to spend nearly $22 billion to recover its stockpiles, including some $7 billion for land-attack cruise missiles and $13 billion for the missile-defense interceptors.
The U.S. likely used as much as two-thirds of its inventory of certain interceptors since June 2025, according to the budget office.
“The shortfall would become especially problematic if a conflict arose with an opponent whose arsenal included large numbers of ballistic and cruise missiles,” according to the report, adding China maintains such an arsenal.
“Claims of U.S. munition shortages are false,” said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman. “We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the President’s choosing.”
The budget office says its overall projection includes the costs of replacing expended munitions and equipment lost in battle, increased flying hours, other operations, and increased fuel costs.
The Trump administration has requested $67 billion to cover the costs of the war and other urgent military needs, which Congress hasn’t approved. The administration is seeking another $1.5 trillion in annual spending for the Defense Department.
Some Republicans have signaled that Congress is unlikely to approve the spending until after the midterm elections this November.