Congressional Budget Office report: the war with Iran has cost the U.S. $38 billion — and is rising by up to $3 billion a month

The six-month United States war against Iran has cost the U.S. Department of Defense $38 billion through August 1, and the cost is expected to rise by $2 to $3 billion a month depending on the intensity of the fighting. That is according to a report released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan arm of Congress, which prepared the estimate at the request of Democrat Brendan Boyle, the ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee.

According to the report, the largest expense comes from replacing spent munitions: $21.7 billion, of which $13.1 billion for anti-missile defensive missiles, $7.3 billion for land-based cruise missiles and $1.2 billion for other munitions. The rest consists of $10.4 billion for additional flight hours, $2.7 billion for aircraft fuel and $1.9 billion for equipment lost in battle. The CBO notes that the Pentagon did not respond to its requests for data, so the estimate is based on government databases and public sources and is “subject to considerable uncertainty.” The figure aligns closely with the $37.5 billion estimate that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave in testimony before the Senate in July.

The report also warns of economic consequences: the war is expected to raise U.S. inflation by 0.5 percentage points in the first quarter of 2027, mainly due to the drop in oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and disruptions in the Red Sea. According to the CBO, the U.S. has used between half and two-thirds of its inventory of key defensive missiles, and replenishing stocks could take up to five years. Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell rejected the shortage claims, calling them “untrue.”

The political consequences are immediate: the Trump administration has requested $67 billion for war costs and other urgent military needs, but some Republicans have signaled that Congress is unlikely to approve the spending until after November’s midterm elections. “Donald Trump’s catastrophic war in Iran has taken the lives of our brave American servicemembers and wounded others,” Boyle said. “Beyond this human cost, this nonpartisan CBO report makes clear that the war has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, and continues to drive costs up.” Eighteen U.S. servicemembers have lost their lives in the war with Iran.

Source: Reuters