Iran War Costs US $38bn; Midterms Loom — SkimNews
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- Congressional Budget Office found the US war on Iran has cost $38bn through mid-October, with roughly $3bn added every month if the conflict continues, and $25bn of that attributable to munitions potentially taking five years to replenish
- Pentagon Inspector General report — the first public US acknowledgement of munitions shortfalls — pegged costs at $33bn from February 28 through June 30, documented $184m in damage to US facilities in the Gulf, at least 18 service member deaths, and dozens of aircraft including 30+ MQ-9 Reaper drones destroyed
- Inflation set to rise 0.5 percentage points in Q1 2027 according to the CBO, while national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion in August and the 30-year treasury yield hit 5.32% — the highest US borrowing cost in nearly two decades
- Diesel prices hit a record $6.27/gallon on Tuesday, with US consumers paying $100bn more for petrol and diesel over six months — about $763 per household across an estimated 131 million households
- Seven House Republicans joined Democrats in a third vote to end the war, though the resolution is expected to fail in the GOP-controlled Senate and could still be vetoed by Trump
- Public approval for the war fell to 31% in a late-August Reuters/Ipsos poll, down from 37% in March, while Democrats opened a 44%-37% lead on the generic congressional ballot
- Trump told Fox News he does not "believe in the word 'regret'" about the war, said it would end after the November 3 midterms, and earlier told Reuters about fuel prices: "If they rise, they rise"
Why it matters: With $38bn already spent and stockpiles that could take five years to rebuild, the war is reshaping both US fiscal priorities and voter sentiment heading into the November 3 midterms. A record $6.27/gallon diesel price and roughly $763 in added fuel costs per household gives Democrats a concrete cost-of-living line of attack against a GOP that already trails 44%-37% on the generic ballot.
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