President Donald Trump submitted a formal request to Congress on Wednesday for an additional $87.6 billion in funding for the current year, with roughly $70 billion earmarked for Pentagon operating costs in the ongoing war against Iran. The package also includes $11 billion for U.S. farmers, $1.4 billion to fight an Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, and $1 billion to renovate Pennsylvania Station in New York.
The request met sharp Democratic opposition and growing Republican skepticism in both chambers. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Ken Calvert said they would review the proposal, but in the Senate it appears to have little chance of passing. Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, accused the administration of failing to answer basic questions about the war's goals, justification, and cost, saying the request was not only to pay for what she called the president’s disastrous war, but also to secure tens of billions more for unrelated Pentagon priorities.
The Pentagon is trying to stress urgency. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is holding one-on-one meetings with Republican lawmakers to persuade them of the need for the money, especially for new ammunition purchases. An internal review estimated the war’s cost so far at about $29 billion, not including related expenses such as repairing U.S. military bases damaged in Iranian attacks.
Trump also tied the spending request to contentious policy demands, including legislation to allow year-round sales of ethanol-blended fuel, a move aimed at helping Republican lawmakers in Midwestern states ahead of elections. The funding fight comes amid broader tensions between the White House and Congress over the war, after the House previously backed resolutions calling for the conflict to end or to be authorized by parliament, and four Republican senators crossed party lines on Tuesday to vote with Democrats against Trump’s position.
