Jay Hurst and the $29 billion public estimate
Hurst, the official performing the duties of the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, told lawmakers that the administration’s latest public estimate for the Iran war stands at $29 billion. That figure is an upward revision from the $25 billion estimate he offered on April 29. Beyond those headline numbers, Hurst acknowledged that the details lawmakers have requested — line-item accounting for lost aircraft, damaged facilities, and expended munitions — have not been provided.
The $350 billion reconciliation request, $40 billion for munitions, and a $1.5 trillion total
Lawmakers are preparing to edit the administration’s 2027 budget bill as debate unfolds over whether the next round of funding will replace expended materiel. Hurst referenced a $350 billion reconciliation bill that would complement the Defense Department’s base budget and any supplemental funding, bringing the administration’s proposed defense spending for 2027 to $1.5 trillion. Within that package, Hurst said there is “over $40 billion in a munitions request, in reconciliation.” He also conceded, however, that the $40 billion figure was compiled well before the administration began attacking Iran in February and “was not actually meant to replace munitions expended in the war.”
Lawmakers’ frustration: transparency, timing, and statutory reporting
Several members of Congress pressed Pentagon leaders for more information and vented frustration about the pace and substance of reporting. Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., said, “Trying to get a reporting of the dollars that have been spent in this has been excruciating,” adding a historical barb: “I think Gen. Washington reported quicker to the Continental Congress than this has been, in terms of reports to the United States Congress.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told appropriators that the DoD has only signaled that replacement costs are “coming” without delivering the numbers lawmakers need to draft their budgets. And Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., criticized the department for declining to brief lawmakers on “meaningful data,” saying the DoD has “refuse[d] even to follow a law which requires reporting to us in a certain number of days.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s testimony and operational posture
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also testified at the hearings, suggested the Pentagon would share figures “when it's relevant and required,” and at one point implied the department is not obligated to comply with certain congressional information requests. “I think we've updated on that number this morning,” he said. Hegseth was also pressed on operational questions: he has asserted that he believes the president has “all the authorities necessary” to restart hostilities against Iran at any time. Hegseth has also, according to the record, insisted that a ceasefire paused the 60-day War Powers clock — a position described in the hearings as erroneous.
Ceasefire status, naval blockade, and the War Powers countdown
The White House informed Congress on May 1 that Operation Epic Fury had “terminated,” but the U.S. continues a naval blockade of Iran and exchanges of fire have persisted, lawmakers said. The president himself characterized the ceasefire as “on life support.” Congress passed a statutory 60-day threshold tied to the War Powers resolution; lawmakers noted the administration passed that deadline without fresh authorization. The Senate was scheduled to convene Tuesday afternoon to consider a War Powers resolution intended to formally end U.S. involvement in the conflict and compel a withdrawal of forces deployed in support of it.
What this means for lawmakers, the Defense Department, and budgeters
- Lawmakers and appropriators: Without detailed accounting for aircraft losses, facility damage, and expended munitions, appropriators say it will be “very hard” to draft budgets that accurately absorb war costs. Several senators signaled willingness to use the War Powers process if the administration continues without congressional authorization.
- The Defense Department leadership: Pentagon officials have provided a public top-line estimate and signaled some munitions funding is planned in reconciliation, but have resisted providing the requested line-item detail, citing limits on when and what they will share with Congress.
- Budget planners and reconcilers: The reconciliation package contains a preexisting $40 billion munitions figure and a $350 billion complement to the base defense budget; Hurst said those sums intersect with current operational needs but that they were not designed specifically to replace war losses incurred after they were assembled.
The short record before Congress leaves lawmakers weighing two linked, immediate decisions: how to edit a defense budget framework that now totals $1.5 trillion for 2027, and whether to invoke the War Powers process to halt or constrain further military action. The Senate’s scheduled consideration of a War Powers resolution is the next concrete step; until the Pentagon provides the line-by-line accounting that appropriators say they were promised, disputes over budgeting and oversight are likely to continue.
