LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Pentagon estimates the cost of the war with Iran is about $29 billion. Top defense officials answered questions from Congress on Tuesday. That price tag was one of few specifics over the day of testimony. Coming up, we'll hear from the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee on what answers she is looking for. We start with what officials did say.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales was watching, and she's with us now. Good morning, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So two weeks ago, Pentagon leaders told lawmakers that the cost of the war was $25 billion. Now it's $29 billion. Are we any closer to a final estimate?
GRISALES: No. And even that figure does not paint a full picture. Pentagon officials admitted that it doesn't include repairs to U.S. facilities that have been hit by Iran. We heard Senate Democrat Jack Reed press Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst on this exact question.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JACK REED: So you do not consider installations that have been damaged in the conflict, correct?
JAY HURST: We just don't have a good estimate at this time.
GRISALES: So I talked to Mark Cancian. He's senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he's been tracking the costs of the war. CSIS estimates that these repairs alone could add at least another $4 billion to the final price tag. And getting that full picture is key because the Pentagon expects to ask for supplemental funding on top of all of this to pay for the war.
MARTIN: Right. And this hearing was supposed to focus on the administration's request for $1.5 trillion for next year's budget. What did we learn about that?
GRISALES: Right. And it's a big increase from last year's defense budget of $1 trillion. It's the largest such ask in history. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argues that it's part of a plan to reverse years of underinvestment in the military.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PETE HEGSETH: We're submitting a $1.5 trillion budget that'll remake the department and ensure that every war fighter in the future has exactly what they need.
GRISALES: But lawmakers in both parties say they need to know how all that money is going to be spent before they can sign off. Take a listen to House Democratic appropriator Betty McCollum raising this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BETTY MCCOLLUM: I'm deeply concerned that the department can't seem to manage $1 trillion that Congress provided last year. So, gentlemen, we need information.
MARTIN: Did we learn anything new about when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen?
GRISALES: No, not really. Hegseth couldn't give an estimate when that could happen. He said the U.S. controls the strait, and U.S. military pressure is a key point of leverage against Iran, but many Democrats question that claim. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy argued there's essentially no military mechanism to reopen the strait, and he said the administration's strategy to use economic pressure is high risk.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHRIS MURPHY: When there's plenty of evidence from military history to show that countries that are being attacked or invaded or occupied are actually willing to put up with a whole lot of economic misery in order to preserve national pride.
MARTIN: OK. Well, what about Republicans? Did any Republicans push back against Hegseth and other officials?
GRISALES: Yes. They took officials to task quite a few times. We saw Maine Senator Susan Collins raise concerns that there seemingly is a shifting plan to reopen the strait. And South Carolina's Lindsey Graham questioned Pakistan's role as a mediator in talks with Iran. And we also saw Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski raise concerns about the ceasefire that does not look like a ceasefire. And it's clear. We're more than two months into this war, and we're seeing increasing GOP frustration about a lack of information from the White House. And this is creating political headwinds for Republicans as they get ready to face voters this fall who are unhappy with the war and seeing daily reminders of it at the gas pump and elsewhere in the economy.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Claudia Grisales. Claudia, thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
