Iran War

$116

Cost to you this month

$40B

Total cost to Americans to date

Why should I care?

Only Congress can declare war (Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution). Congress voted three times to end this war: twice in the House, once in the Senate. Trump is continuing it without their authorization. Then House Republicans passed a budget allocating over $70 billion to fund the war. Funding is not considered authorization; Republicans in Congress are contradicting themselves, funding a war they also formally said was never authorized. And we are all paying the financial cost.

These numbers represent the additional financial burden placed on American consumers by elevated gasoline and diesel prices following the start of the Iran War on February 28, 2026. The Brown University tracker compares actual prices to a "no-war" counterfactual estimate of what prices would have been had the conflict not occurred. This method captures the full shape of the price trajectory and does not ignore that prices would have changed regardless of the war.

"Donald Trump launched an illegal military campaign against Iran without Constitutionally-required authorization."
— Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Senate Foreign Relations & Armed Services Committees, February 28, 2026

90 days refers to a limit set by the 1973 law titled the War Powers Resolution, which establishes a limit on combat not approved by Congress. If a president sends troops into combat without congressional authorization, they have 60 days to get that authorization. If they do not, they have 30 days to withdraw safely, or the military action is illegal. The deadline for the war with Iran passed over 3 months ago.

The paper trail

3 items

Chamber ↕	Date ↕	Result ↕
House	June 3, 2026	Passed 215–2084 Republicans joined nearly all Democrats
Senate	June 23, 2026	Passed 50–484 Republicans joined nearly all Democrats
House	July 23, 2026	Passed 214–2084 Republicans joined nearly all Democrats

2 items

Bill ↕	Date ↕	Amount ↕	Result ↕
Reconciliation budget blueprint — unlocks Iran war funding	July 23, 2026	$70B+	Passed 216–214Largely along party lines
FY2027 NDAA — total defense authorization	July 23, 2026	$1.15T	Passed 216–2126 Democrats joined Republicans; 7 Republicans opposed

5 items

Vote	Type	Date	Total	Republicans		Democrats
Vote	Type	Date	Total	Yes	No	Yes	No
House War Powers Resolution	End the war	June 3, 2026	215–208Passed	4	208	211	0
Senate War Powers Resolution	End the war	June 23, 2026	50–48Passed	4*	48*	46*	0*
House War Powers Resolution (2nd)	End the war	July 23, 2026	214–208Passed	4	208	210	0
Reconciliation blueprint (Iran funding)	Fund the war	July 23, 2026	216–214Passed	Not verified**		Not verified**
FY2027 NDAA	Fund the war	July 23, 2026	216–212Passed	209	7	6***	205

* Senate breakdown assumes no Democratic defections, consistent with reporting on named crossovers; not confirmed against the official roll call.
** Reported as "largely along party lines"; specific yes/no counts by party were not found in the sourcing used here.
*** Plus 1 independent (Kiley) voting yes, not counted in either party's total.