The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, a sizable amount that is certain to be met with questions from Congress, which would need to approve any new money.
The department sent the request to the White House, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private information. Asked about the figure at a press conference on Thursday, defence secretary Pete Hegseth did not directly confirm the amount, saying it could change.
“It takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said.
But he said “we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded”.
It’s an extraordinarily high number and comes on top of extra funding the defence department already received last year in President Donald Trump’s big tax cuts bill. Such a request would need to be approved by Congress, and it is not at all clear such spending would have political support.
Congress has been bracing for a new spending request but it is not clear the White House has transmitted the request for consideration. Lawmakers have not authorised the war, and Congress is showing growing unease with the military operation’s scope and strategy.
The new funding request was first reported by The Washington Post.
While the House and Senate are controlled by the President’s Republican Party many of the more conservative lawmakers are also fiscal hawks, with little political appetite for big spending, on military operations or other matters. Most Democrats are likely to reject such a request and demand more detailed plans from the Trump administration about the US military goals and objectives.
Rep. Ken Calvert, the Republican chair of the House subcommittee with oversight over defence spending, said he was already advocating for a supplemental spending bill to allow the Pentagon to replenish munitions.
“That was going to happen, and now we have this conflict with some additional costs. So, that’s where we’re at,” Calvert of California said on Thursday.
“I know there are peripheral issues out there that people are concerned about, but right now, this is about our national security and it’s important that we get this done,” he said.
But Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee with oversight over defence spending, said the President has taken the US into a war without coming to Congress and she’s demanding more details.
“This is not going to be a rubber stamp for the President of the United States,” McCollum said.
The Senate majority leader, John Thune, said on Thursday that he had not seen any Pentagon request for $200 billion for funding for the war, but he indicated the Republican-led Congress would be willing to advance a bill to cover the rising cost of the conflict.
“Obviously we have munitions that we need to replace,” Thune told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, adding: “We live in a dangerous world. And you know, the operations that are being undertaken now in Iran cost money, and we have to recognise that.”
President’s ‘choosing’ Hegseth declined to say on Thursday in the media conference when or how the war will end. “The President’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure our security,’” the defence secretary says. Trump, however, has given shifting explanations of his war aims.
New York Times News Service and AP