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Pentagon's Hegseth defends Iran war as cost hits $25 billion

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HEGSETH IS MAD

Reuters Wires

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to defend the Iran war in fiery remarks to Congress on Wednesday (April 29), saying it was not a quagmire and attacking Democratic lawmakers as &quot;feckless&quot; for criticizing the unpopular conflict.Hegseth was testifying before Congress for the first time since the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28 that has led to a surge in gasoline prices.Democrat Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania also pressed Hegseth over the firing of a senior officer, accusing him of offering &quot;no way of explaining&quot; the dismissal of &quot;one of the most decorated and remarkable men who&#x27;s ever served this nation.&quot;Hegseth declined to discuss the specifics, saying the administration had removed a number of generals because &quot;we need new leadership.&quot;Democrats peppered Hegseth with questions about the open-ended conflict, with Rep. John Garamendi of California calling it a &quot;quagmire&quot; and &quot;political and economic disaster at every level.&quot;Hegseth responded angrily.&quot;You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,&quot; Hegseth said in response to Garamendi. &quot;Don&#x27;t say: &#x27;I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month mission is a quagmire.&#x27; ... Who are you cheering for here? Who you pulling for?&quot;<div>THE COST OF WAR</div>The United States&#x27; war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday (April 29), providing the first official estimate of the military&#x27;s price tag for the conflict.With just six months before midterm elections in which President Donald Trump&#x27;s Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House majority, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the unpopular Iran war with affordability. Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that most of that money was for munitions. Hurst did not detail what that cost estimate included and whether it took into account the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged in the conflict.Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, responded to Hurst: &quot;I&#x27;m glad you answered that question. Because we&#x27;ve been asking for a hell of a long time, and no one&#x27;s given us the number.&quot;The $25 billion cost is equal to the entire budget of NASA for this year.  But it is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $25 billion amount given that a source had told Reuters last month that President Donald Trump&#x27;s administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion.(Production: Geraldine Downer)

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to defend the Iran war in fiery remarks to Congress on Wednesday (April 29), saying it was not a quagmire and attacking Democratic lawmakers as "feckless" for criticizing the unpopular conflict.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to defend the Iran war in fiery remarks to Congress on Wednesday (April 29), saying it was not a quagmire and attacking Democratic lawmakers as "feckless" for criticizing the unpopular conflict.

Pentagon's Hegseth defends Iran war as cost hits $25 billion

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Pentagon's Hegseth defends Iran war as cost hits $25 billion

Reuters

Published April 30, 2026 07:28 AM PHT

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iran

united states

pete hegseth

israel

war

jules hurst

adam smith

Chrissy Houlahan

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