Pentagon Seeks $200 Billion to Fund Iran War The request, which the White House has not yet submitted to Congress, is already encountering some resistance.

New York times ^ | 19th March 2026 | Helene Cooper, Tony Romm,

[Cronos]

The Pentagon has asked for $200 billion in funding for the war in Iran...

The request has been sent to the White House, the military official said, which will review it before any request for funds is formally submitted to Congress. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal. The request was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

“Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said when asked about the request during a news conference on Thursday, adding: “As far as the $200 billion, I think that number could move.”

On Capitol Hill, the sum — nearly a quarter of the country’s entire annual defense budget — is already raising eyebrows among some moderate Republicans who would be key to approving the funds.

“It’s considerably higher than I would have guessed, but I don’t know how it’s broken down,” Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and the head of the chamber’s Appropriations Committee, told reporters Wednesday evening. The White House had not passed along any request to Congress, she said.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska and a key swing vote, said that the Trump administration would have to make a more concerted effort to engage Congress on the war before such a request could be approved.

“You just can’t come up here with an invoice and say, you know, ‘pay this’ and expect to have great cooperation going forward,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

...

“I’m sure it’s not a random number, so we’ll look at that,” Mr. Johnson told reporters. “But obviously, it’s a dangerous time in the world, and we have to adequately fund defense.”

“The operations that are being undertaken now in Iran cost money,” Mr. Thune told reporters. “And we have to recognize that.”

[MtnClimber]

The problem is that the democRATs want Iran to win.

[DugwayDuke]

Supplemental Appropriation for ammunition to cover expenditures.

[ActresponsiblyinVA]

Democrats apparently want the US to loose.

[Texas Eagle]

DemonicRATS say the war is costing a billion dollars a say. So this would fund the war for 200 days.

The Federal Budget is about 8 trillion dollars a year which works out to roughly 20 billion dollars a day.

At least we can see what we're getting for our money with the war. The rest of the budget, not so much.

[rellic]

The only real new costs are for weapons and consumables replenishment, Fuel, addition weapons and consumables that may be needed in the future.
Soldiers are basically a fixed cost whether they are
at home or out in the field.
I got basically the same pay if I was helping
chase Typhoons in Japan or the Philippines or
doing Depot work in Sacramento.

However that is a LOT! of costs for a non-war.
I agree a president needs to react quickly, but
the concerns of Congress need to be much more
than “we hate Trump” when they question the cost.
They never questioned Obama and his much more
expensive circus wars.

Better to replace what we’ve used thus far
and then negotiate for the future needs.

[yelostar]

Pentagon FY2026 is $961.6 billion.

In that 'just under $1 trillion' they apparently don't have the ability to provide an accounting system that works and can pass an agency audit.

Just another example of institutional corruption how the government actually functions.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

can’t wait until we go bankrupt finally.