GOP senators not happy with Trump administration’s handling of Iran funding request

Republican senators are criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of an emergency request for $70 billion in defense spending to cover the costs of the Iran conflict and warning that the Pentagon will need to do a better job explaining its war plan to get the money.

GOP senators emerged from a briefing with Vice President Vance last week, underwhelmed by the insights they got into the conflict and complaining that the status of U.S. missile reserves remains murky at best.

The Republican senators, who requested anonymity to discuss Vance’s briefing in the Senate’s Mansfield Room, said the administration has sent “mixed messages” about whether it’s facing a critical shortage of long-range missiles and missile interceptors.

Vance told senators last week that claims of a severe missile and munitions shortage are a “misdirection” and an inaccurate description of the strength of U.S. reserves. But some Republican senators are not buying that claim, according to multiple GOP lawmakers who attended the meeting.

One GOP senator who attended the meeting with Vance said the vice president assured lawmakers that the Pentagon has the weapons it needs to sustain an intense military offensive against Iran, despite reports that weapons shortages have persuaded President Trump to hold back on escalating attacks.

“He was very bold that there was a misdirection and an unfortunate misdirection that emboldens the enemy,” said the lawmaker. “It emboldens the enemy if they think we’re out of ammunition.”

But other senators say that Pentagon officials have told lawmakers in briefings that they’re facing a shortage of Tomahawk, Patriot and other long-range missiles that could take years to replenish, given the cost and complexity of those weapons.

“There’s a mixed message there,” a second GOP senator said, referring to the conflicting accounts of U.S. missile reserves.

Vance’s claims behind closed doors conflicted with a bombshell Reuters report that revealed the U.S. Army has used up much of its global stockpile of accurate long-range missiles during the war with Iran.

NBC News reported last week that Trump vented his frustration over the shortage of missiles in an angry call to Steve Feinberg, the........

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