The U.S. has spent about $25 billion to fund Operation Epic Fury, which began Feb. 28 and is aimed at eliminating Iran’s nuclear arsenal and offensive missile capability.
Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules W. Hurst confirmed the $25 billion figure on Wednesday during testimony on Capitol Hill before the House Armed Services Committee.
“Most of that is on munitions, part on [operations and maintenance] and equipment replacement,” Mr. Hurst said in response to a question from Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the committee.
The congressman was taken aback by the statement, the most succinct public estimate of the war’s financial cost.
“We’ve been asking for [the cost estimate] for a hell of a long time, and no one has given us the number,” Mr. Smith said.
The hearing to put forward the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion budget request for the Pentagon included praise from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for President Trump’s America First foreign and defense policy, along with sharp criticism aimed at Democrats in Congress.
In response to questions about the Iran conflict, Mr. Hegseth said, “The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.”
