Markey Demands Answers From Trump Agency on Cost of Illegal War on Iran

As President Donald Trump's war in Iran fuels inflation across the US economy, Sen. Ed Markey wrote to the acting head of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to demand updated consumer price data that accounts for these costs.

Markey (Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, already wrote the acting commissioner of BLS, William Wiatrowski, once on March 9, to demand price updates back when the war was just over a week old. He said he received no response.

In a follow-up letter sent Friday, Markey said that in the intervening weeks, "the impact of the crisis has deepened considerably," with repeated blockages to the critical Strait of Hormuz disrupting the global trade of oil and other commodities.

Even with the strait reopened amid a tentative 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Iran has indicated it will not hesitate to close the waterway again if that agreement—which is already fraying after less than 24 hours—falls apart.

"The economic havoc wreaked by this war has damaged virtually every sector imaginable, and we need the BLS to factor in the full implications of what the war will mean for the American economy," Markey wrote.

He pointed out that since his last letter, average gas prices in the US had surpassed $4.00 per gallon, a 40% increase since the US and Israel launched the first attacks against Iran on February 28.

Citing data from the US Energy Information Administration, Markey wrote that "small businesses and individual car owners are struggling with the prospect of more than $540 per vehicle in added annual gas costs."

Beyond gas, he pointed to other steep price hikes: Fertilizer prices have shot up 30% since the war began, costs he warned would be pushed to consumers at grocery stores in the coming months. Where a month ago, grocery bills were predicted to rise 3% this year, the latest report from the Department of Agriculture now projects a more than 6% increase.

This is on top of rising transport costs due to higher jet fuel and diesel prices, which have led airlines to jack up baggage costs and shipping companies like UPS, Amazon, and FedEx to raise delivery fees.

"Increased transportation costs affect virtually every facet of the supply chains our economy relies on," Markey said. "And yet, we have yet to hear any concrete plan from the administration regarding an end to the conflict, a solution to alleviate these costs, or any attempt at providing relief for Americans.”

In recent days, Trump and his underlings have brushed aside concerns about sharp price hikes due to the war.

At an economic event in Las Vegas on Thursday, Trump described them as "fake inflation because of the fuel, the energy prices." He's previously suggested that price hikes from the war "didn’t matter" to him because they're "short-term" and that Americans concerned about their pocketbooks should care more about the threat of Iran.

Trump's approval rating on the economy hit its lowest point ever recorded this week, with just 40% approving of his handling of the economy compared to 59% disapproving in a Navigator Research poll published Thursday. In that same poll, more than two-thirds of Americans (68%) said the economy was in either "poor" or "not so good" shape.

When asked about these dismal polling numbers by a reporter on Thursday, Trump's top economic adviser, Scott Bessent, shrugged it off, saying that "in their heart of hearts," Americans "feel good" about the economy, and that he was "not sure what they're telling the survey people."

"Understandably, Americans remain skeptical that President Trump has a plan of any kind," Markey said. "They cannot afford to fly blind, as Trump apparently elects to."

The senator said: "Facing thousands of dollars in higher prices for gasoline, groceries, and utilities—not to mention the hundreds of billions of their taxpayer money that Trump is requesting to pay for the war itself—American families and small businesses must budget and plan for the future. BLS must put forward consumer price projections that reflect the disastrous consequences of Trump’s illegal war.”