Pentagon’s Iran war request Congress to top $200B

The Pentagon will ask Congress for additional funds related to the Iran war as Operation Epic Rage enters its third week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Pentagon, Hegseth said that the additional demand will help cover operational costs and replenish the US’s weapons stocks.

“Frankly, I think that figure could be as high as $200 billion. It takes money to kill the bad guys,” he told reporters. Reporting from The Washington Post He said the War Department was seeking that level of funding.

“We’re going back to Congress and our friends there to make sure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we might have to do in the future, to make sure that our ammunition is everything reloaded and not just reloaded, but above and beyond,” Hegseth added.

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In December, Congress authorized about $856 billion to the Pentagon in fiscal year 2026 as part of a broader $891 billion national defense budget.

Fox News confirmed Thursday that the War Department was seeking funding “north of $200 billion”; Replenishing ammunition stocks is expected to be the biggest challenge.

A senior Republican source in the House of Representatives also told Fox News that the price tag “will happen no matter what.”

HEGSETH WAS EXPECTED ‘MORE LOSSES’ IN EPIC FURY OPERATION AGAINST IRAN

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in Washington DC on November 10, 2025 (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The multibillion-dollar request could face significant hurdles in Congress, where some lawmakers are expected to seek spending offsets that could be difficult to achieve after recent budget cuts.

Democratic support also seems unlikely due to ongoing concerns about the lack of congressional authorization for the conflict.

The narrow Republican majority in the House poses another challenge, while any measure in the Senate would likely need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.

Lawmakers have discussed using the budget reconciliation process to clear the Senate threshold, but some Republicans are hesitant to introduce another reconciliation bill.

HEGSETH SAYS IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER IS ‘PROBABLY DISAPPOINTED’

The U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford is conducting flight operations in support of the Operation Epic Fury strike against Iran from an unidentified location, announced March 9, 2026. (DVIDS/Reuters)

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said the United States would continue to pursue military targets and expand strikes deeper into Iranian territory.

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He told reporters that the U.S. military recently dropped 5,000 pounds of penetrating munitions into underground storage facilities that house coastal defense cruise missiles and other support equipment.

“These weapons are specifically designed to penetrate concrete and/or rocks and function once they pass through these obstacles,” he said. “We continue to hunt and kill mineral storage facilities and naval ordnance depots. We continue to hunt and kill assets at sea, including more than 120 ships and 44 minelayers, and the pressure will continue.”