CBO Puts Iran War Cost at $38 Billion as Reports Flag 0.5-Point Inflation Hit
Updated
Updated · NPR · Sep 15
CBO Puts Iran War Cost at $38 Billion as Reports Flag 0.5-Point Inflation Hit
3 articles · Updated · NPR · Sep 15
Summary
$38 billion is the latest U.S. cost estimate for the Iran war, with the Congressional Budget Office saying the spending will lift inflation by about 0.5 percentage point early next year.
More than $20 billion went to weapons and over $10 billion to flights moving troops and materiel and carrying out thousands of airstrikes; the estimate excludes rebuilding damaged bases.
Pentagon inspector general findings detailed heavy losses the military had disclosed only sparingly: hundreds of buildings damaged or destroyed across bases in eight countries and about 60 aircraft damaged or lost.
Patriot interceptor stocks were hit especially hard, with the CBO saying roughly two-thirds may have been used and cannot be replaced quickly, undercutting Trump administration claims that supplies remain ample.
Thomas Massie introduced an impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the war's legality, but with Republicans controlling Congress, the move appears largely symbolic.