US spending on first week of Iran war raises stark questions about priorities | Trump administration

The US spent $11.3 billion in just the first week of its military offensive against Iran. This massive spending dwarfs the annual budgets of many public health and scientific agencies that the Trump administration is trying to cut and raises serious questions about the nation’s priorities.

The Pentagon told lawmakers that in the six days following the joint US and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, $11.3 billion was spent on American taxpayer-funded bombs that hit the country and caused hundreds of deaths. This figure does not reflect the full cost of the conflict, such as the deployment of forces, and will now be much higher given the ongoing nature of the war.

But even a limited snapshot of the financial cost of the war has highlighted the enormous disparity between what the United States spends on its military and the budgets of institutions tasked with keeping Americans’ air clean, helping find new treatments for cancer and designing new scientific innovations.

The cost of the first week of the Iran war would be more than enough to fully fund the Environmental Protection Agency this year ($8.8 billion), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ($9.2 billion) or National Cancer Institute ($7.4 billion). 11.3 billion dollars is also more than the total amount allocated This year for federal scientific research funding through the National Science Foundation.

“This shows a disturbing prioritization of militarism over the health and well-being of the American people,” said Adam Gaffney, a Harvard Medical School professor who studies the health effects of the administration’s policies.

“With this money, we could double public health spending or double environmental protections to ensure Americans have clean air and water. We could provide health care to millions of Americans. Instead, we’re investing this money in a war of choice.”

The Trump administration has sought to further shrink the budgets of U.S. public health and science agencies, proposing severe cuts to U.S. budgets of more than 50%. EPA And NSF this year.

However, Congress, which is charged by the US constitution with overseeing public spending and declarations of war, opposed the cuts planned by the White House. passing spending bills This year, spending for these institutions was roughly similar to previous budget levels.

Some Democrats say the Defense Department, with an annual budget of more than $900 billion, has enough money despite the massive spending on Iran. “The military has all the funding it needs for this conflict,” Adam Schiff said Sunday on NBC.

“All of these billions, this $11 billion in just the first few days, is money that could go into new hospitals, new schools, health care for people, to meet the needs of the American people.”

Last year, the administration began purging what it saw as wasteful spending, an effort spearheaded by Elon Musk’s so-called Doge. This included firing scores of agency staff and scientists, doling out thousands of research grants funding studies ranging from clean energy development to cancer treatments, and blacklisting initiatives deemed ideologically incompatible with Trump’s worldview.

“There will be zero tolerance for waste and abuse of any kind,” Lee Zeldin, the EPA’s administrator, said last year as he announced an end to what he called “irresponsible shoveling of boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups” through various donations.

Scientists have warned that this agenda will worsen problems such as pollution, tarnish the United States’ reputation as a scientific leader, and stymie new breakthroughs that could help the public and lead to profitable commercialization. Some researchers have already fled the United States, raising alarm about a “brain drain” of scientific talent.

“The Trump administration’s attitude towards American research companies is deeply troubling,” Gaffney said.

“It’s not just funding cuts, it’s the politicization of science, grants no longer being funded, and broader attacks on science and evidence, such as RFK Jr’s anti-vaccine theories. It’s deeply concerning that this administration is turning to a dark age mentality.”

Arthur Daemmrich, director of the consortium for science, policy and outcomes at Arizona State University, said the administration is redirecting scientific funding toward a number of key priorities and is looking for “fewer big ‘moon approaches’ such as a breakthrough in fusion energy.”

Trump also signed a contract order The USA returns to the moon and then to Mars. This effort has been assigned to NASA, an agency designated by Congress. delivered A budget of $24.4 billion for this year; An amount equivalent to nearly two weeks of war against Iran.

“Concerns that the military was overshadowing other research or the general direction of U.S. science have been voiced repeatedly since the 1920s,” Daemmrich said. “For decades, the United States has conducted both military-based research and development and civilian-based research and development spread across a dozen agencies and with little coordination.”

Daemmrich said that after the Second World War, the weight of financing shifted towards the military, and the Pentagon budget is now routinely one of the largest expenditures in US government expenditures, along with social security.

The amount spent on the Iran war has drawn particular attention from researchers who have seen their own federal funding cut. Last year, Tammie Visintainer, an associate professor of science education at San José State University, saw two NSF grants totaling nearly $500,000 wiped out by the administration in an effort to eliminate any funded research with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) connotations.

Visintainer said the “extremely shocking” decision brings to an end a four-year study to increase student participation rates in Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and measure the urban heat island effect in cities. The second project was collecting temperature data to help cities adapt to rising temperatures triggered by the climate crisis.

“Budgets are values, and this war is proof that cuts are never about money,” Visintainer said. “If you wanted to save money, the first place you’d look was the military. It was really about undermining science and anything that didn’t support big donors and big oil.”

“This is incredibly frustrating,” he added. “I mean, one hundredth of a Tomahawk missile could pay for all these organizations. It could fund a lot of research. Instead this money is being used to kill Iranian schoolgirls.”

The White House has been contacted for comment.