by Bridge2Blue contributor Bill Robinson, veteran and VA02 resident
Today, as Republican budget cuts and tariffs continue to strain household budgets, Trump’s war with Iran has added new pressure through higher gas prices and rising costs for all of us.
Yet even as Virginians absorb those costs, Rep. Jen Kiggans has doubled down on her support for the war, declaring on April 20 that she “couldn’t be a stauncher supporter.” Kiggans further confirmed that support on June 3, when she voted against the bipartisan War Powers resolution requiring congressional approval for further offensive action.
That position is especially telling. As a veteran and a member of both the Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Rep. Kiggans understands the high costs of conflict, especially when the war is characterized by poor planning and vague objectives.
Trump’s war with Iran has only deepened the affordability crisis, adding inflationary pressure and economic on top of rising costs, runaway military spending and a growing national deficit.
The war has deepened inflation
For Virginians, one of the clearest effects of Trump’s war of choice against Iran has been at the pump. Disruptions to oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz—through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas moved, prior to the war —have pushed gasoline prices higher. Gasoline in Virginia now averages about $4 per gallon, roughly $1 per gallon more than this time last year. And those costs ripple through the economy raising transportation and production expenses that show up in grocery, utility, and clothing bills. Businesses, farmers and small producers all feel the strain.
These increases are landing on top of price hikes already driven by Trump’s tariffs. In 2025, those policies added an estimated $1,000 to households’ costs and suppressed trade. In Virginia, we see the effects at the Port of Virginia, where both import and export container volumes dropped below 2024 levels as tariffs and retaliatory trade measures took hold.
Virginians don’t need to be told that prices are rising; we feel it every day. Yet Rep. Kiggans offer this reassurance:
“I too am tired of paying high prices at the pump. We were doing good for a while. I know that the Iran conflict has a little bit to do with it, but we’ll keep working on it. We need that to come down before the midterms.”
Really? Were we actually “doing good” after Rep. Kiggans supported Trump’s 2025 budget bill, which cut jobs and helped drive up health insurance premiums spike? In 2025, Virginia lost 10,400 jobs. And the war has far more than a “little bit” to do with rising prices. Gas prices rose 12.3% in April alone and are up more than 50% since the war began.
What, exactly, is Kiggans “working on” as she continues to support the war? She should be scrutinizing its impact, demanding clear and accurate updates on its status, goals, and costs, and insisting on accountability for the service members and families bearing its consequences.
The ballooning cost of the war with Iran
Meanwhile, the war drags on through shaky ceasefires with no clear military or diplomatic gains. As the representative of one of the nation’s largest military and veteran populations, she should be demanding stronger oversight, clear purpose, lawful authority, and transparency about its human and financial costs.
We deserve clear updates on U.S. objectives, real relief from rising costs, and honest answers about the long-term consequences of this conflict.
Just three weeks after Rep. Kiggans said she “couldn’t be a stauncher supporter” of the war, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faced pointed bipartisan questions at the May 12 House and Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee hearings about the war’s ballooning cost and its toll on military readiness, including shrinking weapons stockpiles and fraying relationships with allies, particularly within NATO.
By May, lawmakers estimated the Iran war had already cost $29 billion, not including repairs to damaged U.S. facilities—costs taxpayers will bear for years. At the same hearings, Trump’s proposed 2027 military budget came in at a staggering $1.5 trillion, drawing concern, even from some Republicans, over its scale and limited return.
Costs are rising, the timeline is slipping, and the public is being asked to absorb the hardship without clear measures of success or a credible plan to end the conflict. Yet even as Rep. Kiggans voiced concern about the budget, her support for the war did not change.
Kiggans is not stepping up to rein in the war and to keep costs down
Jen Kiggans’s staunch support for this war is increasingly hard to justify.
- This conflict is widely unpopular, increasingly expensive, and was never authorized by Congress.
- This war has cost U.S. lives, worsened our affordability crisis, depleted military reserves, and undermined global stability.
This war is unsustainable, and Virginians have every reason to demand clear objectives, transparent reporting, realistic timelines, and real accountability.
Its trajectory should alarm every Virginian: it is driving up prices, drifting without a defined endpoint, draining tens of billions, eroding military readiness, and straining alliances.
We deserve better. We deserve accountability and a representative willing to put our interests ahead of partisan loyalty. If Rep. Kiggans cannot recognize the warning signs—or refuses to act on them—then Virginians in the 2nd Congressional District should elect someone who will.
