NEED TO KNOW

• Pentagon now estimates Operation Epic Fury cost at $29 billion, up from $25 billion April 29.
• Hegseth declined to commit to a timeline for a supplemental funding request.
• GOP appropriators are openly skeptical of reconciliation funding for the war.

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The Pentagon told House appropriators Tuesday that the Iran war has cost roughly $29 billion, a $4 billion jump in two weeks, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth deflected on when the White House will send Congress a formal funding request.

The big picture: The hearing turned a budget review into an accountability problem. The administration wants a $1.5 trillion 2027 defense topline, roughly a 42% increase, while running a war whose costs neither side can fully verify.

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• Acting Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst told the subcommittee the cost figure is "closer to $29" billion, The Hill reported.
• Operation Epic Fury is in its eleventh week, launched Feb. 28 with a fragile ceasefire holding since April 8.

Why it matters: Every dollar spent without an authorization vote is a dollar Congress is being asked to backfill after the fact. The mechanism the administration is floating, reconciliation, would route war funding around the appropriations process entirely.

• House Appropriations chair Tom Cole warned reconciliation "creates cliffs" the committee would inherit, per CBS News.
• Strait of Hormuz disruptions are pushing fuel prices higher heading into the midterm cycle.

Driving the news: Hurst attributed the $4 billion jump to equipment repair, replacement, and operating costs. Pressed on when a supplemental lands, Hegseth refused to commit.

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• Rep. Pete Aguilar asked when Congress gets a detailed accounting; Hegseth said only "when it's relevant and required," per ABC News.
• Hurst previously said a supplemental was coming, but the White House has signaled it doesn't plan to release one.

What they're saying:

• Jules Hurst, Acting Pentagon Comptroller — "The joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate."
• Tom Cole, House Appropriations Chair — "I don't have any concerns about the amount. I am worried about the ability to sustain that number through the reconciliation process, at some point the money disappears."
• Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Senate Appropriations — "When I got to the Senate five and a half years ago, the defense budget was just over $700 billion. Now they're asking for twice as much money."

Yes, but: Hegseth's allies argue the administration inherited a depleted industrial base and the cost reflects necessary munitions replacement. That framing dodges the procedural question — why Congress is being kept in the dark on a war it never voted to authorize.

• Hegseth argued the 1973 War Powers Act 60-day clock paused when the ceasefire began, a reading Democrats and some Republicans reject.
• Sens. Susan Collins and Rand Paul joined Democrats on a war powers resolution; Sen. Lisa Murkowski wants a formal AUMF.

Between the lines: The fight isn't really about the $29 billion. It's about whether wartime spending gets to bypass the appropriations process indefinitely. Reconciliation funding lets the administration avoid a discrete war vote, and lets every member of Congress avoid one too. The bipartisan complaints from appropriators are real, but appropriators of both parties share a structural interest the rest of their caucuses don't.

What's next:

• Hegseth heads to the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Tuesday afternoon.
• The White House timeline for any supplemental, or its refusal to send one, remains open.
• Trump departs for a Xi summit in China with the ceasefire he calls "on life support" still technically in force.

If Congress can't get an accounting of a war it didn't authorize, what exactly is the appropriations power for?

Sources

This report was compiled using reporting from The Hill, CBS News, ABC News, Reuters via MarketScreener, The Washington Times, PBS News, and CNN.

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