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Ilhan Omar Quotes 2Pac, Saying “They Got Money for Wars, but Can’t Feed the Poor,” as U.S. Senate Votes to Block Bid to Rein In Trump Iran War Powers

  • Rob Glenn
  • March 4, 2026

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar quoted a lyric from rapper Tupac Shakur in response to a social media post about the cost of U.S. military operations against Iran.

“They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor,” Omar wrote in a post on social media on Wednesday. She attributed the line to Tupac, quoting it verbatim from his 1993 song Keep Ya Head Up.

Omar’s post was a reply to an account that cited a report estimating nearly $2 billion in U.S. military equipment losses during the first days of strikes on Iran. The original post did not link a source but closely matched figures published earlier Wednesday by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

According to Anadolu, Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed multiple U.S. military assets across the Middle East, including radar systems, aircraft, and communications equipment, based on what it said were satellite images and open-source intelligence reports. The agency estimated total losses at about $1.9 billion.

The report said a U.S. AN/FPS-132 early warning radar at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, valued at about $1.1 billion, was hit, and that three F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft were lost in a friendly fire incident in Kuwait. It also cited damage to satellite communications terminals and radar components associated with missile defense systems in the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. officials have not publicly confirmed the dollar value of equipment losses.

The U.S. Senate also voted down a war powers resolution that would have sought to halt U.S. military involvement in the conflict with Iran, failing 47–53, with most Republicans opposing the measure and most Democrats supporting it. The resolution, introduced to reassert Congress’s authority over decisions to go to war, was backed by Democratic lawmakers and opposed by Republicans aligned with President Donald Trump. 

Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, has been a vocal critic of U.S. military interventions and defense spending. Her post echoed similar arguments made by other lawmakers who have questioned the financial cost of the campaign and called for greater transparency about its scope and duration.