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For Iran, Hegseth Wants Billions From Congress. Can He Get It?

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

George Caldwell / @GCaldwell_news

George Caldwell is a correspondent for The Daily Signal. Send an email to George.

The Pentagon appears to be seeking hundreds of billions of dollars from Congress for the War with Iran.

However, with slim majorities in both chambers and a partisan divide over the conflict, will Republican leaders be able to squeeze that sum out of Congress?

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported the Pentagon “has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to Congress to fund the war in Iran.”

When asked about the Pentagon requesting $200 billion for an Iran war supplemental, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said "that number could move, obviously. It takes money to kill bad guys.""We're going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we're… pic.twitter.com/9ZGj9cCq68— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 19, 2026

When asked about the Pentagon requesting $200 billion for an Iran war supplemental, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said "that number could move, obviously. It takes money to kill bad guys.""We're going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we're… pic.twitter.com/9ZGj9cCq68

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed the reporting at Thursday morning’s press briefing.

“$200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously,” Hegseth said. “It takes money to kill bad guys. So we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future, [to] ensure that… everything’s refilled.”

On Sunday, Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said the “latest number I was briefed on was $12 billion” for the war’s price tag, according to CBS News.

The move to request more funding from Congress comes after legislators budgeted nearly $1 trillion for defense in fiscal year 2026.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in July 2025, also injected nearly $160 billion into defense outside of the typical appropriations process.

The federal debt surpassed $39 trillion for the first time this week, after passing $38 trillion in late October 2025. 

When asked if the Pentagon needs to ask Congress for additional funding for the war with Iran, Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett says “right now, we’ve got what we need.”“This is something that we've got the weapons that we've already got in place to do this, and so,… pic.twitter.com/7SWCaRVC7j— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 15, 2026

When asked if the Pentagon needs to ask Congress for additional funding for the war with Iran, Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett says “right now, we’ve got what we need.”“This is something that we've got the weapons that we've already got in place to do this, and so,… pic.twitter.com/7SWCaRVC7j

If Congress follows the typical process, 60 votes in the Senate will be necessary to advance a funding bill to the president’s desk. 

Any such bill would have to start in the House.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters he had not seen a funding request yet, but was ready to consider one.

“I would suspect some of this is backloading things that they would have in the [fiscal year 2027] bill anyway,” Cole said. 

“You might as well get that done early, as it might take Congress a long time to come to an agreement… It doesn’t surprise me that we’re hearing these numbers.”

Before the Iran War, President Donald Trump called for a $1.5 trillion defense budget.

A large number of Democrats would likely vote against a funding package.

“We should be spending it on child care and health care here at home,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told The Daily Signal.

Budget Reconciliation

If they wish to forgo Democrats’ support, Republicans could choose to pass another budget reconciliation bill, like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to provide additional military funding.

This approach would require uniting the House Republicans’ many factions and acquiring a simple majority of votes in the Senate.

Republicans currently have a razor-thin 217-214 majority in the House, with Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who recently left the GOP, as the only independent in the chamber.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., a member of the House Freedom Caucus who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said he supported funding the war effort.

“$200 billion is a lot, but conservatives are not of a mind to remove a stated requirement from the commander in chief during a time of war,” he said.

Higgins is open to budget reconciliation, saying conservatives are “going to have a seat at the table” as they seek “conservative wins.”

He stressed to The Daily Signal that the bill should not include funding that goes beyond “the realm of national security,” mentioning “funding for a new highway system in Montana” as a hypothetical non-starter.

“It’s not going to be a Christmas tree,” Higgins said. “We’re not going to allow that.”

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