At a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Patty Murray delivered a fierce rebuke to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, forcing him to confront the enormous, still-untracked cost of President Trump’s confrontation with Iran—and the sacrifices American families are being asked to bear to finance it.
The Democrat from Washington state arrived armed with figures dated May 12, noting that Hegseth’s own team had already testified to an astonishing price tag.
“Earlier this morning, your team testified Trump’s war with Iran cost $29 billion so far,” Murray said. “That is $29 billion blown on a war of choice. And that’s what it would have cost actually to save the ACA [Affordable Care Act] tax credits.”
But Murray wasn’t finished.
She pressed Hegseth about reports that Iran had struck at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites, damage that wasn’t included in the official cost estimate. When she asked for a breakdown, the response proved telling.
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“For the military construction, I don’t have a cost estimate to provide you at this time,” admitted Jules W. Hurst III, the acting comptroller.
“Well, when will we get that?” Murray pressed. She never received a straight answer.
With the clock ticking and patience wearing thin, Murray shifted the focus to what ordinary Americans are surrendering to foot the bill.
“People are paying four, five, even six or seven dollars for gas. You’re spending families’ hard-earned tax dollars on a war that many strongly oppose, and you’re forcing people to pay more at the pump — and yet you’re not even providing a real breakdown for the cost of this war.”
Murray reserved her sharpest words for last, cutting through the administration’s carefully staged messaging with a stark observation.
“Your budget request cuts through Trump’s ramblings and really to me makes the truth clear,” she said, her voice steady and deliberate. “You and the president don’t value families as much as you value defense contractors.”
Hegseth couldn’t let it stand.
“I meet every family at Dover,” he interrupted.
Murray didn’t flinch. “Let me finish,” she shot back.
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“You want to increase the war budget for the next year by half a trillion dollars. That is taxpayer money that could be used to feed families, build affordable homes, or wipe out some diseases completely … but you are asking us to blow it all on war. It’s a huge payday for defense contractors … to me this is absurd.”
Murray closed by invoking President Dwight Eisenhower, quoting his warning that every weapon built represents a theft from those who are hungry and cold. Then she landed the final blow.
“That is what this budget proposal is asking. It’s going to leave Americans cold and hungry to fund Trump’s war and make defence contractors a fortune.”
