ALBAWABA - Hegseth appeared before Congress yesterday to answer questions regarding the Iran war and the costs related to it; instead of answering, he bold-facedly requested Congress increase his department’s budget to $1.5 trillion.
The Trump administration continues to push Congress for more funds to cover the heavy cost of the Iran war, Hegseth says it cost $37 billion so far and is asking for $70 billion more, while analysts say the cost jumped closer to $100 billion by their estimates.
Still, Hegseth requested that Congress bankroll the war by increasing the U.S. defense budget to an outrageous $1.5 trillion, saying: “not funding [the US Department of Defense] at $1.5 trillion is the greatest threat that our nation faces.” Economist Dean Baker says that the increase comes out to about $5,000 per household.
Democratic lawmakers slammed the $1.5 trillion request down as the amount would represent an increase of more than 50% of what the US spent on its military in 2025.
“Secretary Hegseth, you are asking for unlimited money for bombs,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, “when people can’t feed their families.”
Dean Baker also pointed out that the U.S. already has the biggest military budget in history, saying that the U.S. was doing ‘just fine’ on their $680 billion budget - which is more than China, Russia, Germany, India, and the UK’s budgets combined.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari was asked whether Congress would consider Hegseth’s demand for tens of billions of dollars in supplemental funding for the Iran war; she said the answer was “going to be a ‘hell no.’”
“How many times have we been told this war is over?” Ansari asked. “How many times have we been told that it’s not a war?... I’m not giving another dollar to this.”
It seems that the inability to decisively finish the war with Iran has isolated Trump’s administration; with the majority of Congress agreeing that not another cent should be spent on this costly war; especially as it has no end in sight.
