US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the United States has spent 37.5 billion dollars so far in the ongoing war with Iran. He said the figure includes some operational and maintenance costs through the end of September but did not provide further details. The Trump administration had earlier estimated the war cost at 29 billion dollars in May.

During the hearing, Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Kane supported a proposed 1.5 trillion dollar defense budget, including about 70 billion dollars allocated for the Iran war. Moody’s Analytics estimated that indirect economic effects, such as rising fuel prices, could push total US costs to as high as 150 billion dollars.

Hegseth added that the war has strained US weapons stockpiles, requiring extra funding to boost production of high-demand ammunition and arms. He warned that delays in budget approval could force cuts in future military training programs. Democratic Senator Patty Murray questioned the logic of combining various spending areas in the proposed defense budget.