The White House Wednesday formally requested $87.6 billion in additional funding, a large part of which will be directed towards incurring expenses by the United States Department of Defense for its Operation Epic Fury — the US-Israel joint attack against Iran, the Associated Press reported.
In a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, the White House Office of Management and Budget sent the supplemental funding request, citing “urgent needs” related to the operation, which began on February 28 this year.
It includes $67.15 billion for the US military, apart from around $1 trillion appropriated in 2025, and another $1.5 trillion President Donald Trump wants for 2027, Reuters reported.
The request comes at a time when Republican and Democratic lawmakers are already frustrated with the ongoing conflict and have registered their objections to further military action.
Last week, Deputy Defence Secretary Stephen Feinberg had informed lawmakers that the Defense Department would require $80 billion to cover costs from the Iran war and other non-war-related bills, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reported. The report also quoted officials familiar with the matter and said the request for the same would be sent to lawmakers soon.
What will the funds be used for?
The Trump administration has sought additional funds to fulfill a range of other goals, besides using the bulk, about $67 billion, to recover the operational war costs.
The largest portion of this defense funding, $21 billion, would go towards procurement of weapons and munitions, $17.3 billion towards operational costs and $12.1 billion for other classified programs, AP report stated.
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Funds will also cover fuel costs, drone manufacturing and cybersecurity, it added.
Out of the remaining funds, about $11.1 billion will be directed towards economic assistance for American farmers. This would include $10 billion for row and specialty crop farmers, and $1.1 billion for agriculture producers in Florida who were hit by winter storms in 2025, according to the report.
Another $1.4 billion will be utilised to assist Central Africa in tackling the Ebola virus outbreak.
The package includes policy proposals that the Trump administration strongly supports, and are most likely to raise interest among lawmakers. About $500 million will be used to support the ongoing efforts “to complete restoration and construction projects in and around Washington, DC,” the letter stated.
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“I urge the Congress to take action on these important and urgent requests as soon as possible,” OMB Director Russ Vought said in a letter to Johnson.
Not enough support to pass war funds
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, reacting to the request for additional funds, alleged that Trump was “asking taxpayers to clean up his messes, to the tune of $87.6 billion.”
“After dragging America into a reckless war, he now wants Congress to hand him tens of billions more to paper over the damage — while families are still paying higher prices,” he said.
Moreover, Washington Senator and Democrat Patty Murray said the request is not merely to pay for “the president’s disastrous war, but an attempt to secure tens of billions of additional dollars for unrelated Pentagon priorities,” AP quoted.
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She also said she would review to ensure servicemembers are taken care of, “but I will not rubberstamp tens of billions more for this disastrous war of choice.”
Defending Trump’s request
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday briefed the House GOP lawmakers of the Republican Study Committee on Pentagon’s budgetary needs, AP report stated.
The White House is seeking nearly $1.5 trillion in defense spending in this year’s budget — close to a 50 per cent increase over previous levels.
However, lawmakers have complained they haven’t received any formal briefing from the Trump administration on the Iran war.
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Defending its request, the White House made an attempt to include provisions that would be of interest to lawmakers. This included a request for funds, around $1 billion, to assist “the final design and construction of a modernized Penn Station in New York City,” the report noted.
Representative Tom Cole, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Representative Ken Calvert, who chairs the panel’s subcommittee on Defense, in a joint statement, affirmed: “President Trump’s request reflects the reality that our defense strength must be maintained, not merely demonstrated.”
Chaos over votes to halt Iran war
The request arrived just hours after Trump assailed Republican senators, engaging in a shouting match with Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisana, over their votes to approve a war powers resolution that would halt further hostilities, AP noted.
A day earlier, the US Senate passed the war powers resolution directing Trump to halt military action against Iran, weeks after the measure passed the House. A handful of Trump’s fellow Republicans in both chambers joined Democrats in their rebuke to Trump.
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Lawmakers have also noted that the US Constitution assigns Congress, not the president, the right to send troops into war, while accusing Trump of disregarding that separation of powers.
