CBO Estimates Golden Dome Missile Defense Could Cost $1.2 Trillion

Golden Dome is a proposed nationwide missile defense architecture intended to protect the continental United States from ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missile threats. The initiative draws conceptual comparisons to Israel's Iron Dome system but would operate at a substantially larger geographic and technological scale. Large-scale U.S. defense programs have a documented history of cost growth between initial executive estimates and independent budget assessments. The CBO's statutory role is to provide Congress with objective fiscal analysis independent of the executive branch, giving lawmakers an alternative baseline when deliberating over major appropriations.