The Pentagon has asked Congress for an additional $80 billion to fund the war with Iran, as part of a broader Trump administration defense budget plan worth $1.5 trillion. The request, reported Tuesday by AP, has drawn resistance from lawmakers concerned about the economic burden.
According to administration officials, the money is not mainly for active combat. Instead, it would replenish munitions stocks depleted during the campaign, repair damaged military infrastructure, and support longer-term readiness needs. The new request follows earlier estimates of about $29 billion.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steven Feinberg, are lobbying lawmakers to present the increase as a critical investment in the future readiness of the U.S. military. The administration says the wider plan would raise defense spending by 50% from current levels.
In Congress, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray criticized the proposal, saying, “You are spending taxpayers’ money that families worked hard for on a war that many strongly oppose.” Republican Sen. Jim Banks, by contrast, argued that the added funding could strengthen the domestic defense-industrial base. Sen. John Hoeven is trying to broaden the package to include disaster relief and aid for farmers, saying, “I think that is the combination that can pass.” Hegseth defended the cost by asking, “What is the cost of a nuclear-armed Iran?”, while acknowledging that confronting the threat “comes with a cost” and calling it necessary for global stability.
