← @liberaljoe

They started a war and won't tell Congress what it costs

published · May 14, 10:27 PM · $3.63 total · published 44d ago

Plan (drafter input)

planner politics_and_policy

The Pentagon says the Iran war has cost $29 billion so far. Internal assessments put it closer to $50 billion. Defense comptroller testified they have 'no intention' of seeking congressional authorization to continue. Pete Hegseth declined to say how much more they'd need or when they'd ask. Button: they started a war, won't tell Congress what it costs, and the ceasefire is already shaky.

War cost accountability is exactly Joe's lane. Specific numbers ($29B vs $50B), named official (Hegseth), and a concrete democratic outrage (no authorization, no transparency). Fresh angle — recent content covered Hormuz/shipping disruption but not the price tag or the authorization dodge.

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Script

Pentagon says the Iran war cost $29 billion. Internal assessments say closer to $50 billion. Pete Hegseth testified before Congress and refused to say how much more they'd need. Refused to say when they'd even ask. Defense comptroller Jules Hurst told lawmakers the administration has, quote, no intention of seeking authorization from Congress to continue operations. No intention. They started a war. No authorization. Won't say what it costs. Won't say when it ends. The ceasefire near the Strait of Hormuz is already shaky — Hegseth said they're prepared to escalate if necessary. [chuckles] Fifty billion dollars, a tenuous ceasefire, and Congress getting stonewalled on the bill. The check is coming. They just won't tell you how much it is.

Caption

no authorization, no cost estimate, no end date — just a war they started and a stonewalled Congress #war #iran #pentagon #accountability

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