Trump’s $88 billion Iran war request is stuffed with pork
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- White House sent lawmakers an $87.6 billion supplemental funding request Wednesday, with $67 billion earmarked for the Defense Department to cover costs of the war on Iran.
- Ben Freeman of the Quincy Institute flagged that the $67 billion DoD ask is more than double the Pentagon's last public estimate of $29 billion for the Iran war — issued just four weeks ago — with no explanation for the jump.
- $21 billion of the request would replenish munitions the U.S. burned through during the war, but the Stimson Center's Julia Gledhill noted the supplemental doesn't detail which weapons the Pentagon wants to buy.
- The request includes $1.1 billion for Florida farmers hit by winter storms, $300 million for federal building elevator repairs, $500 million for D.C. memorial restoration, and roughly $1 billion for Penn Station repairs in New York City.
- Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense argued the Pentagon doesn't need the money, noting it is sitting on over $100 billion in unobligated funds from a budget reconciliation enacted a year ago.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the spending in a New York Post op-ed as fulfilling Trump's 'America First military' vision, while Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Brendan Boyle slammed the package as funding unrelated Pentagon priorities instead of domestic needs.
Why it matters: Lawmakers face a $67 billion DoD ask that doubled in four weeks without explanation, bundled with billions in domestic pet projects — meaning taxpayers are being asked to fund the most unpopular major conflict in U.S. history (per cited polling) alongside Florida farmer relief and Penn Station repairs. Congressional Democrats are already opposing the package, making the supplemental a live legislative fight rather than a rubber-stamp.
