Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costs

All of the Democrats in the Senate — excluding Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman — signed an open letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pressing him to give Congress a cost breakdown of the war in Iran.

The letter, although largely symbolic, reflects the frustration of many Democrats in Congress over what they perceive as a lack of transparency from the Trump administration about how much taxpayer money the war has cost and how future money Congress allots for the war might be spent.

The senators asked Hegseth to provide a detailed breakdown of the cost of the war to date and future spending requests as well as an account of how unspent dollars from last year will be disbursed by Sept. 30.

“Despite asking for tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars, you have so far failed to provide basic information on how this money has and will be spent,” the Democratic senators, led by Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, wrote. “Congress must have access to this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities. It is the bare minimum that any American would expect in balancing their own household budget.”

The letter also comes after The Hill reported that Pentagon officials told congressional staff in August that the estimated cost of the war was now at $42 billion.

Fetterman has been a consistent supporter of the war in Iran, putting him at odds with his caucus. He has voted with Republicans against Democratic efforts to condemn the war and criticized his colleagues for their response to the conflict.

“My record has been consistent. I’ve always been at odds with my fellow Democrats over how we hold Iran accountable,” Fetterman said in a statement. “I’ll continue to remain an unapologetic supporter of efforts to confront the Iranian regime and its proxies.”

The other Democrats have homed in on the war’s price tag. In Thursday’s letter, they cited the administration’s multiple requests for more defense funding, including a $67 billion supplemental funding request in June and the $1.5 trillion total funding request from the Pentagon for the next fiscal year.

Those numbers are especially contentious amid deliberations about next year’s government funding, which are currently at a standstill. Republicans want the Defense Department — and especially the war — fully funded, while Democrats insist that the defense total must be lower to allot more money to domestic programs like infrastructure and healthcare.