Nikki McCann Ramirez
View all posts by Nikki McCann Ramirez March 21, 2026
The flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury on Fe. 28, 2026. U.S. Navy/Getty Images The first six days of Donald Trump’s war against Iran cost a whopping $11.3 billion, according to a report from the Pentagon given to Congress earlier this month. The pricetag is expected to continue climbing — exponentially.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that the Department of Defense will be seeking $200 billion in supplementary funding from Congress for the Iran war effort. The offensive is already exacting a toll on Americans at home. Thirteen service members have been killed with hundreds more injured, and the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused global oil prices to skyrocket, and is expected to affect other commodities such as fertilizers and medical-use chemicals.
The war has already left large swaths of Republicans feeling betrayed, after Trump campaigned on an anti-war, anti- interventionist, America First presidency. An open-ended quagmire costing billions of dollars runs directly counter to his supposed brand — especially as he and his administration have preached the need to cut back “wasteful spending” and reduce bloat in the federal government.
The first six months of Trump’s second term were largely defined by ruthless spending cuts and mass firings under the auspices of Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The department ended up squandering over $20 billion in government funds, an amount that is expected to increase given the string of lawsuits, loss of efficiency triggered by mass firings, and the settlements and compensation granted to those affected by the cuts. Even as the war in Iran rages on, members of the DOGE team are being hauled into depositions about their role in alleged abuses of sensitive data by the department.
Under the so-called Big Beautiful Bill passed last year, Congress backed Trump in making permanent his first-term tax breaks for billionaires and the ultra wealthy, while taking massive bites out of the American social safety nets. The 12 percent cut to Medicaid spending is expected to kick 10.9 million Americans off their health insurance by 2030. Millions were kicked off food assistance. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense was granted an additional $150 billion, and the Department of Homeland Security was given $170 billion for border security and the expansion of ICE. The Department of Defense is also spending tens of millions to change its name to the “Department of War” under Hegseth.
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It’s never been more obvious that the administration’s hand-wringing about cutting costs was n a ruse to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the less fortunate. While Americans watch their tax dollars explode in the Middle East, here are some things the federal government could be spending that money on instead:
Health Care
Last year, Republicans in Congress moved to allow enhanced federal subsidies for health care plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to expire, resulting in skyrocketing premiums for millions of Americans. As a result, studies are already showing that as many as one in 10 individuals previously purchasing health insurance through the ACA are now uninsured.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it would have cost $350 billion to extend the enhanced subsidies for a full decade, and only $60 billion for a two-year extension.
Child Care
In January, the Trump administration announced it would be cutting $10 billion in funding for child care and other social programs across five states: New York, California, Illinois, Minnesota, and Colorado.
The Trump administration claimed the move was taken in response to “Democrat-led states and governors [having] been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud,” and would ensure “that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money.”
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Several states are suing the Trump administration over the withholding of the funds, with New York Governor Kathy Hochul calling the decision “vindictive.”
Medical Debt
The total cost of medical debt held by Americans is roughly $220 billion. The money the Pentagon wants Congress to approve for the war could effectively wipe out all medical debt in America. All of it.
Foreign Aid
The Trump administration has hollowed out much of the federal government’s foreign aid infrastructure through the decimation of USAID, a sprawling international development agency with a roughly $23 billion annual budget before its demise. Trump succeeded in killing off one of the most effective global aid agencies ever created — which estimates project will result in as many as 9.4 million deaths around the world by 2030.
In June, the administration sought to claw back over $8 billion in foreign aid funding, including funds for global health programs, humanitarian aid, and international civil society development. Major programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria were severely affected by the funding cuts.
Food Assistance
When Congress passed Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, it cut $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the country. The cuts were spread between 2025 and 2034, so about 20.6 billion a year. In addition, millions were kicked off the program under new work requirements.
The current rate of spending on the Iranian offensive provided by the Pentagon indicates that in less than one month of the conflict, the Trump administration has spent $13 billion more than the amount of money it “saved” in a whole year by depriving impoverished and hungry Americans of food assistance.
Public Programming
Trump last July signed a bill cutting $1.1. billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in January voted to shut down in the wake of the cuts. Last August, after Congress approved $500 million in cuts to public broadcasting, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) cut its budget by over 20 percent. The legacy broadcaster, responsible for classic programming like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Sesame Street, and Arthur was forced to lay over over 100 staffers.
Preschool Development
The Trump administration cut $315 million in funding grants for preschool education they claimed had been infiltrated by “DEI” ideology. That’s a small fraction of the amount the government spent on the first week of the war.
Aid for the Disabled
Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would dismantle the Administration for Community Living (ACL). The program, which helped provide transportation, nutrition assistance through programs like Meals on Wheels for the elderly and disabled, had $2.4 billion cut out of its budget.
If spending billions on a war against Iran seems nonsensical to Americans, Congress seems to agree. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are publicly opposing another blank check war in the Middle East, and are preemptively declaring their “no” vote to the Pentagon’s request for $200 billion.
“I am a no. I have already told leadership. I am a no on any war supplemental. I am so tired of spending money over there,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told CNN. “I have folks in Colorado who can’t afford to live. We need America first policies right now.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) questioned what the administration is doing in a separate CNN interview. “We’re talking about boots on the ground. We’re talking about that kind of extended activity. Now we’re in a whole ‘nother zip code,” he said. “They got a whole lot more briefing and a whole lot more explaining to do on how we’re going to pay for it and what’s the mission here?”
