Plumes of smoke billow from an explosion that occurred on March 5, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been confirmed dead after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. Iran retaliated by firing waves of missiles and drones at Israel and then targeting U.S. allies in the region. (Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – The top Democrat on the U.S. House Budget Committee sent a letter to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Thursday, asking its experts to determine how much the Iran war could cost.
“The Constitution gives Congress both the fiscal authority and the responsibility to declare war,” wrote Pennsylvania Republican Brendan Boyle. “CBO’s timely and comprehensive assessment will assist Congress in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.
“Congress should ensure that we spend taxpayer dollars to improve the quality of life for the American people, not pay for another endless war in the Middle East.”
Boyle asked CBO to detail how much the war would cost “under several scenarios, including scenarios of a war lasting longer than 4 to 5 weeks and the deployment of U.S. troops into Iran.”
He asked CBO to also consider possible unintended costs of the war, such as the impact of “moving an aircraft carrier from near Taiwan to the coast of Iran on the United States’ response to potential Chinese aggression?”
Boyle asked CBO to describe in detail how the war in Iran could affect prices in the United States.
The Trump administration has not publicly revealed how much it has spent on the war or what it expects to pay the total price for so-called Operation Epic Fury. A Department of Defense spokesman told States Newsroom when asked about the costs that they had “nothing to say on this matter at this time.”
President Donald Trump said during an afternoon appearance at the White House that Iranian leaders had called to try to negotiate an end to the war, but did not say whether he would start talks.
“They’re calling. They’re asking, ‘How can we make a deal?’ I told you you were a little late,” Trump said. “And we want to fight more than them now.”
Six American soldiers were killed
Trump started the war on Saturday, killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several other top officials in the country’s government. Since then, the US and Israeli military have continued bombing.
Iran’s retaliation has so far resulted in the deaths of six U.S. soldiers, and top Defense Department officials expect more casualties in the coming days and weeks.
Trump has said he expects the war could last four to six weeks or longer. He did not rule out sending U.S. ground troops to Iran, although several Republican lawmakers missed secret meetings earlier this week I mean boots on the ground it would be a step too far.
Congress has not authorized the operate of military force or declared war on Iran, and both Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., say they believe Trump’s actions are within his authority as commander in chief.
Democrats and some Republicans tried unsuccessfully this week to withdraw U.S. troops forcing votes on war powers resolutions that would direct Trump to “withdraw United States armed forces from hostilities in or against Iran unless expressly authorized by a declaration of war or special authorization for the use of military force.”
Republicans in the House and Senate the majority voted against resolutions.
Trump expected to ask Congress for more money for the war with Iran
In January, Congress approved $838.7 billion for the Department of Defense through the annual government funding process. Republicans approved the Pentagon to spend another $150 billion on specific programs, such as air and missile defense as well as shipbuilding, in their “big, beautiful” bill passed in 2025.
But several GOP lawmakers said this week that they expect the Trump administration to send a request to Capitol Hill for additional spending to shore up the military’s coffers in the coming weeks.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say Wednesday whether Trump would ask lawmakers for more funding for the Iran war, although she did not rule it out.
“I don’t have any updates for you on the president’s congressional requests,” Leavitt said.
Any additional spending request would have to pass the House and clear the Senate’s legislative filibuster by a 60-vote majority to become law.
It would require the support of at least seven Democrats in the upper house if all 53 GOP senators vote to advance the emergency war spending bill.
