The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, as President Donald Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict and its impact on US military readiness.

The figure was disclosed during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill. It is about $4 billion higher than the department’s estimate from two weeks ago.

How much has the Iran war cost the US so far?

The Pentagon’s latest estimate puts the cost of the Iran war at nearly $29 billion, up from $25 billion as of late April.

Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III attributed the increase to updated equipment repair and replacement costs, as well as broader operational expenses. Democrats and outside analysts argue the true cost could be far higher.

Why did the Pentagon’s cost estimate rise?

Hurst, testifying alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, explained the jump in figures directly. “At the time of testimony it was $25 billion,” he said, referring to Hegseth’s April 29 estimate.

“But the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it’s closer to 29.”

The three officials appeared before Congress to answer questions on the administration’s $1.5 trillion 2027 defense budget request.

Pressed on when Congress would receive a fuller accounting of war costs, Hegseth said the administration would request “whatever we think we need” separately from the Pentagon budget, without providing a timeline.

Are Democrats challenging the Pentagon’s Iran war cost figures?

Democrats used the hearing to press the administration over the ballooning cost of the Iran war and what they described as a lack of transparency about US objectives. “The question must be answered at the end: what have we accomplished and at what cost?” asked Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

In the Senate, Democrat Patty Murray said the administration’s estimate appeared “suspiciously low” because it did not account for damage to US facilities. She cited reports that Iran struck at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at military sites. Virginia Burger, senior defense policy analyst at the Project On Government Oversight, suggested the administration might be understating the war’s true cost by “tens of billions” of dollars.

“The only way to know what the discrepancy is and what this war is truly costing taxpayers is if the Pentagon provided Congress with a detailed breakdown of the costs,” Burger said. “Without seeing the numbers, we’re forced to wonder if the Pentagon is engaging in mathematical tricks and selective inclusion to make the official cost estimate as low as possible.”

What did Hegseth say about weapons stockpiles and war costs?

The hearing marked Hegseth’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since the White House formally notified Congress that hostilities launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28 had terminated.

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly warned that inventories of Tomahawk missiles, Patriot interceptors and other advanced weapons had been severely drawn down and could take years to replenish. Hegseth dismissed those concerns as “foolishly and unhelpfully overstated.”

Hegseth declined to provide a damage estimate but argued, as he has repeatedly since the war began, that the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would be far greater.

He and Caine faced a second round of questioning before a Senate panel after their House appearance, with anti-war protesters present at both hearings.

What is the current state of the US-Iran ceasefire?

The testimony came as a fragile US-Iran ceasefire appeared increasingly shaky. Trump warned on Monday that the truce was on “life support” after rejecting Tehran’s latest peace proposal. Democrats, accusing Trump of waging war without congressional authorization, have repeatedly introduced measures to curb his war powers, only to be blocked by Republicans.

Trump has repeatedly claimed US air strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, despite intelligence assessments indicating Tehran was a decade away from developing a missile capable of threatening the United States.