Pentagon Tells Lawmakers It Needs Additional $80 Billion for Iran War and Other Costs

 

The White House is expected to formally request a supplemental spending bill in the coming days

by Dave DeCamp | June 21, 2026 at 5:30 pm ET | Iran

The Pentagon has told Congress that it needs $80 billion to pay for the Iran war and other non-war-related costs, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

The Pentagon had previously claimed that the war cost $29 billion as of mid-May, a number that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, as an analysis from Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute found that the war had cost about $72 billion in just the first 60 days, an estimate that doesn’t factor in indirect costs.

The costs have continued to add up despite the ceasefire, and the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, as the US is maintaining its military posture in the Middle East, which includes major naval armadas that were enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.

US Navy fighter jet prepares to take off from the USS Abraham Lincoln as the ship transits the Arabian Sea (Central Command photo)

The breakdown of what exactly the $80 billion will cover is unclear, but much of it is expected to go toward munitions procurement, as the US used an enormous number of missiles and air-defense interceptors in the war.

The Journal report said that Pentagon leaders have said they will run out of money this summer if Congress doesn’t pass a new wartime spending bill, and would have to cut training exercises due to the war with Iran. The White House is expected to ask Congress for $80 billion, plus additional funds for other non-military spending, in the coming days.

The Pentagon is seeking $80 billion on top of its more than $1 trillion annual budget, as the Trump administration has pushed for record-breaking military spending. In 2027, the US military budget will increase by nearly 50% to $1.5 trillion if President Trump’s plan, which involves combining the annual National Defense Authorization Act with a supplemental spending bill for several hundred billion dollars, is passed by Congress.

https://news.antiwar.com/2026/06/21/pentagon-tells-lawmakers-it-needs-additional-80-billion-for-iran-war-and-other-costs/