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Pentagon Seeks More Than $200 Billion for Iran War Funding

The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve more than $200 billion in congressional funding for the Iran war, drawing early concern from lawmakers in both parties.

Kyiv Post

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20. März 2026

3 min read

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The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a request for more than $200 billion from Congress to fund the war with Iran, according to AFP.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the reported figure on Thursday without confirming it directly, saying only that “it takes money to kill bad guys” and that “as far as $200 billion, I think that number could move.”

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“We’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is, everything’s refilled,” Hegseth said.

The final cost of the war remains unclear and will depend in part on how long the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, launched on Feb. 28, continues.

The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed the total amount spent so far, but its comptroller reportedly told lawmakers that the first six days of the war cost $11.3 billion.

Daniel Schneiderman, director of global policy programs at Penn Washington, said that figure appeared credible given the scale of the operation.

“The amount of precision munitions and interceptors used, the number of air sorties, fuel expended, and cost of operation of two carrier strike groups all factored in, would lead to a very large bill,” he said.

Schneiderman said the most critical elements in such an operation are also among the most expensive, including cruise missiles, THAAD interceptors and batteries, bombs and missiles launched from aircraft, as well as the fuel, maintenance, and skilled labor required to sustain them.

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“It’s very expensive to run a war,” he said.

President Donald Trump also pointed to broader security concerns to justify the funding push, saying the administration was seeking the money for reasons that go “beyond even what we’re talking about in Iran” because “this is a very volatile world.”

The reported request quickly ran into resistance on Capitol Hill. Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal called the figure “absolutely ridiculous,” while Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said cutting off funding was the best way to end the war. 

Some Republicans also reacted cautiously. Senator Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the total was “considerably higher than I would have guessed” and called for more detail, while Senator Shelley Moore Capito said she was surprised by the size of the request.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he supported providing the funding needed for defense but had not yet seen the details of the request. Representative Ken Calvert, who oversees defense spending in the House appropriations process, said replenishing munitions was expected and argued the funding was necessary for national security.

In addition to direct military costs, the conflict has also fueled wider economic fallout, including rising oil prices after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.