Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump and his administration for plunging the U.S. into a costly “war of choice” in Iran — instead of using the billions in taxpayer dollars that pay for it on federal food programs and health care.

“This war is costing a billion dollars a day,” Schatz wrote Wednesday on X.

The Democratic lawmaker continued, “In one fucking month we will spend more over there than we needed to save healthcare for more than 2 million Americans. They literally are taking away your food and your healthcare for this regime change war of choice.”

The regional war has already killed six U.S. service members and at least 1,000 people in Tehran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Airstrikes on a girls school Saturday killed at least 175 people, most of them children under 12.

As Schatz pointed out, Trump found billions in taxpayer dollars to put toward war in Iran, but hasn’t tried to secure extra funds for Medicaid recipients or the 42 million Americans who rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The “big, beautiful bill” the president signed last year includes Medicaid and SNAP cuts that could affect millions of people.

Trump previously decried America’s costly “forever wars” and said the trillions in taxpayer dollars should be spent on U.S. infrastructure instead.

Critics on social media have slammed Schatz as a hypocrite for calling out the expense of war with Iran after consistently voting in favor of sending costly aid packages to Ukraine, omitting key facts: Russia invaded Ukraine, and Iran was in negotiations with the U.S. leading up to the attacks.

The Trump administration has offered wide-ranging reasons for the Iran war, including some that blatantly contradict each other. Trump declared during a video address Saturday after announcing the start of major combat operations that the country “can never have a nuclear weapon,” despite confirming that only last year targeted U.S. strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that the U.S. “preemptively” bombed Iran because the administration “knew” impending Israeli strikes there would trigger “an attack against American forces.” Rubio walked back the statement on Tuesday.

The president said Monday that combat operations will likely last several weeks, but wrote later on social media: “Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully.”

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