$87.6B war supplemental draws bipartisan questions about unrelated riders

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

The Trump administration has requested Congress authorize $87.6 billion in immediate appropriations, most of which reimburses the costs of Operation Epic Fury and boosts Pentagon funding.

The long-awaited war supplemental comes after the U.S. signed a 60-day peace plan with Iran and also lists a plethora of unrelated policy asks.

Besides $67 billion for the Department of War, the administration asks Congress to authorize year-round E15 gasoline sales, loosen restrictions on hemp-derived cannabinoid products, and fund pensions for employees of a failed automotive company.

Congressional Republican leaders have expressed openness to covering the costs of the Iran conflict, which began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran.

In response to the administration’s request, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said they will “continue working to ensure our military remains ready, our deterrent remains credible, and our nation is secure.”

“Congress has a constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense, and we must always sustain our military with the tools and capabilities needed to defend America in full force against all threats,” the lawmakers stated. “Delivering a decisive blow against the world’s largest state sponsor of terror was not without cause or operational cost.”

“Our forces performed their mission with extraordinary precision and professionalism, and we must now ensure they have the resources necessary to replenish critical munitions, sustain readiness, and reinforce the capacity of our military that made such success possible,” they added.

The over 100-day conflict has cost the U.S. government tens of billions of dollars, not accounting for spending on repairing or replacing U.S. installations in Iran, which the supplemental request addresses.

But while Republicans seem open to subsidizing the Pentagon’s costs, congressional Democrats are bristling at the request, arguing that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used to finance the administration’s unauthorized military hostilities.

“Our nation’s military has real needs, from filling munitions backlogs to protecting our troops and bases from modern drone warfare. But the administration’s supplemental accomplishes few of those goals,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., posted on social media Thursday. “If brought to the floor, my Democratic colleagues and I would oppose it.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, plans to “closely review this request in its entirety and ensure we take care of our servicemembers, but I will not rubberstamp tens of billions more for this disastrous war of choice.”

“For months, the administration has failed to answer basic questions about its aims and justification for the Iran war and failed to provide the most basic information about its costs,” Murray added.

“It is clear, however, that this request is not merely meant to pay for the president’s disastrous war, but an attempt to secure tens of billions of additional dollars for unrelated Pentagon priorities that should rightly be considered through the annual appropriations process.”

Some of the administration’s unrelated asks that Democrats and some Republicans have side-eyed include $1 billion for the Penn Station modernization project, $1 billion to subsidize pensions of former Delphi Corporation employees, and $600 million for “elevator-related” capital projects across 45 buildings nationwide.

Other additions to the package are evidently meant to garner Democratic support for the $88 billion request, such as $11 billion in farm aid and a total of $1.4 billion to address ongoing Ebola outbreaks across Africa.

Democrats, however, aren’t biting.

“The package seems designed to repel Democratic votes,” Sen Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters. “I don’t think anybody in the Democratic caucus is willing to appropriate billions of dollars to paper over the massive mistake of the Iran war.”

The Congressional Progressive Caucus, composed of nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers, officially announced Thursday that it opposes “any supplemental funding” so long as the conflict remains unauthorized by Congress.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is touting the Iran military operation as a success. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Congress in May that the U.S. military has “degraded almost completely [Iran’s] defense industrial base” and destroyed Iran’s navy, as well as three aircraft carriers and 11 submarines.

Iran’s nuclear program, however – the Trump administration’s main target – is still operational. The recently signed peace deal hinges on Iran shuttering its nuclear program and disposing of all enriched uranium.

The White House’s supplemental request includes $672 million for “activities for complete and verifiable termination of Iran’s ability to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon, including the disposition of proliferation sensitive material, technology, equipment, and infrastructure.”

It is unclear whether Republicans would fold the $88 billion request into a long-shot party-line budget reconciliation bill or tuck it into the over $1 trillion fiscal year 2027 Defense appropriations bill.

Budget watchdog organizations are urging Congress to offset any supplemental appropriations however lawmakers decide to advance them.

“With debt approaching record levels and interest costs continuing to explode, we cannot afford to keep expanding our borrowing. Congress should carefully review and fully offset every dollar of this supplemental request,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, stated.

“The nation’s massive deficits and debt represent a serious threat to our economy, our budget outlook, and our national security. It’s time for Congress and the President to start taking our fiscal outlook seriously.”