WASHINGTON, Mar 20: The Pentagon has requested USD 200 billion in supplemental funding for the ongoing war against Iran, sending the proposal to the White House three weeks after hostilities began.
The White House will be reviewing the request before formally submitting it to Congress. The sum, nearly a quarter of the United States’ annual defense budget, has already drawn scrutiny from moderate Republicans who would play a key role in approving the funds.
“Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a news conference Thursday, adding that “as far as the USD 200 billion, I think that number could move.”
The request comes on top of the Pentagon’s annual budget of $838.7 billion, approved by Congress in January. Pentagon officials told lawmakers last week that the first six days of the war alone had cost more than $11.3 billion, The Hill reported.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans are debating how to handle the request, balancing support for the president with concerns from fiscal conservatives. Democrats have largely opposed additional war funding, prompting Republicans to consider using the budget reconciliation process, which would bypass the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
“It’s considerably higher than I would have guessed, but I don’t know how it’s broken down,” said Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine and head of the Appropriations Committee. She noted that the White House had not yet sent a request to Congress.
President Donald Trump defended the need for the funds on Thursday, citing ammunition and supply needs depleted by the conflict and prior aid to other countries. “This is a very volatile world,” he said. “We want to have vast amounts of ammunition, which we have right now – we have a lot of ammunition, but it was taken down by giving so much to Ukraine.”
US lawmakers have previously debated the costs of foreign conflicts. The Congressional Research Service estimated that direct costs of the Iraq War totaled $815 billion over 13 years, while a report by the Council on Foreign Relations found that $188 billion had been provided to support Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, said Thursday the $200 billion figure was “not a random number” and emphasised the need to adequately fund defense during “a dangerous time in the world.”
The war with Iran has also had economic effects domestically, including a spike in oil prices that has hiked the inflation adding to economic uncertainty.
Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell warned that the war in Iran was likely to drive up inflation, as oil prices surged above $110 a barrel following attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure.
“Higher energy prices will push up overall inflation, but it is too soon to know the scope and duration of the potential effects on the economy,” Powell said.
(UNI)
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