Posted on 07/03/2026 7:07:30 AM PDT by thegagline
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told Congress the Iran conflict has cost "about $30 billion," six days after his own agency asked lawmakers for $67.1 billion to cover the same conflict's costs.
Neither Vought nor lawmakers reconciled the two figures during the June 30 hearing, even as Congress weighs a request that works out to about $412 for each of the nation's estimated 162.8 million individual income tax filers, according to IRS data.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., asked Vought during the hearing how much the conflict, formally called Operation Epic Fury, has cost.
"We've spent about $30 billion," Vought said.
When Pocan noted some estimates run closer to $100 billion, Vought said the figure came from the Department of War, not an independent OMB assessment.
"That's the number that I have," he said.
The $30 billion cost figure marks the third number in three hearings. The Center Square reported in April that Jules Hurst III, then the Pentagon's acting undersecretary of war for finances, put Iran conflict costs at $25 billion at the time. He raised that estimate to $29 billion before the House Appropriations Committee in May testimony, including $24 billion in munitions and equipment replacement costs. He said the Pentagon did not have a cost estimate for damage to U.S. installations in the region.
Vought had sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on June 24 requesting $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, including $67.1 billion for the Department of War tied to the conflict. The request included $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for "operational costs" and $12.1 billion for unspecified classified programs, according to the letter. ***
(Excerpt) Read more at thecentersquare.com ...
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$800 billion/year to DoD for it to accomplish nothing - good
$30 billion to slap down Iran’s nuclear program - bad
*************
Because some commies stole nuclear secrets in 1945 the DoD budget had to be much bigger for decades.
Uncle Sam now spends about $20 billion per day on average.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Saw Vought, thought is was a thread about “The Boys”. /sarc
All this Iranian “peace and prosperity” comes at a steep price for US taxpayers.
The Pentagon publicly stated it wants $80-200 billion tax dollars to cover costs of the Iranian war including “Munitions Replenishment.” US and Israeli estimated 10,000 bombing sorties rapidly exhausted valuable, high-end weapon stockpiles, and $billions are required to restock the arsenal for other global threats that might endanger American families.
The Pentagon has critically depleted stockpiles of key precision-guided missiles and interceptors to defend American families due to sustained Mideast conflicts.
Replenishing US military arsenals is expected to take 1-6 years. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) highlight the depletion levels of critical US munitions.
<>Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM): At least 45% of the stockpile has been used.
<>THAAD Interceptors: At least 50% of the inventory is depleted.
<>Patriot Air Defense: Nearly 50% of the stockpile has been expended.
<>Tomahawk Missiles: Roughly 30% of the arsenal has been utilized.
Defense analysts note that ramping up arms manufacturing faces structural bottlenecks, including long lead times for specialized materials, workforce constraints, and supply chain issues. Even with expanded capacity, it will take major defense contractors—such as Lockheed Martin and RTX—several years to rebuild pre-war inventory levels earmarked to protect American families.
Homeland and Global Defense: Munition shortages have forced the Pentagon to carefully weigh deployments. For example, interceptors and air defense systems originally stationed in Asia to deter regional threats have been diverted.
Near-Term Vulnerability: The depletion of long-range capabilities poses a potential risk should a conflict arise in another theater, such as the Indo-Pacific or other theaters of aggression that endanger American families.
Good one! In that case, next year I will be celebrating June 19th.
How about charging those that started this war the bills. The war that was supposed to be over in two weeks. the war that is getting more expensive by the day. The war nobody asked for or wanted another. They’re wanting us to pay it after spending $2 trillion in Iraq in Afghanistan &getting nothing out of it. Forget it. just say no. We cannot be stupid like we were for Iraq and Afghanistan where we were cheerleading every day only to find out. It was a disaster. This seems to be going in the same direction. We can’t beat the stupid twice.
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