{"id":72,"date":"2026-05-28T18:43:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72"},"modified":"2026-05-28T18:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:43:53","slug":"democrats-want-watchdog-to-probe-iran-war-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Senate Democrats urged the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to check the Trump administration\u2019s math when it comes to Iran war costs \u2014 accusing officials of lowballing.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u2018License to Kill\u2019 Boat Strike Policy Faces a Reckoning<\/a><\/p>\n

The group of 20 lawmakers, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chuck Schumer of New York and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, is pressing the budget watchdog to scrutinize what they argue is the big gap between the administration\u2019s public estimates for the war and outside analyses that put the price tag tens of billions of dollars higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned that the administration has not been fully truthful or transparent in its public accounting of the war\u2019s costs so far,\u201d the senators wrote in sent Wednesday to CBO Director Phillip Swagel.<\/p>\n

The sharp appeal from Senate Democrats lands as the political and economic fallout from the nearly 3-month-old conflict continues to mount. Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jay Hurst told lawmakers<\/u><\/span> this month the war\u2019s cost had jumped from $25 billion weeks earlier to $29 billion, despite a ceasefire technically in place.<\/p>\n

Democrats seized on reports that the Pentagon\u2019s figure excludes billions more in damage to U.S. military installations and destroyed equipment across the Middle East. The lawmakers pointed to outside estimates ranging from $35 billion to roughly $72 billion<\/u><\/span>, once higher energy prices and the long-term care for veterans are factored in.<\/p>\n

Read more Blame It on the Reign: Music Acts Exit State Fair<\/a><\/p>\n

The dispute over the war\u2019s cost is part of a broader fight over the administration\u2019s handling of the conflict ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections. Beyond the administration\u2019s $1.5 trillion defense budget request, it\u2019s considered requests for supplemental funding in the $200 billion<\/u><\/span> and $100 billion ranges<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The letter comes amid reports Thursday that U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement<\/u><\/span> to extend the ceasefire by another 60 days to further negotiate Iran\u2019s nuclear program. The ceasefire appeared fragile as the U.S. military accused Tehran of firing missiles toward Kuwait after U.S. strikes on Iranian drone and missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The Congressional Budget Office hasn\u2019t publicly acknowledged whether it would probe the Iran conflict\u2019s cost, but it generally responds to requests from lead lawmakers. CBO officials have acknowledged difficulties in recent months obtaining information from the Pentagon, but Schumer\u2019s involvement, because he is the Senate minority leader, suggests it is likely to be a top priority for the agency.<\/p>\n

Read more Republican Springsteen Fans Are Torn About Which Boss to Serve<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe are concerned that the administration has not been fully truthful or transparent,\u201d the senators wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWe are concerned that the administration has not been fully truthful or transparent,\u201d the senators wrote.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T18:43:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T18:43:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Congress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72\",\"name\":\"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T18:43:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during the Senate Democrat policy luncheon news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Feb., 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\\\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=72#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs - Modern Home Journals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"\u201cWe are concerned that the administration has not been fully truthful or transparent,\u201d the senators wrote.","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-05-28T18:43:53+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs","datePublished":"2026-05-28T18:43:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72"},"wordCount":434,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Congress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72","name":"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-28T18:43:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/29ccbb525af1c534b9aa089f496ac5dc-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during the Senate Democrat policy luncheon news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Feb., 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=72#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Democrats Want Watchdog to Probe Iran War Costs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}