House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that lawmakers are waiting for the White House to formally request emergency cash to support the war in Iran, as administration officials reportedly consider seeking up to $50 billion.
In an interview, Johnson said he hadn’t heard yet about a specific funding level but that “we’ll pass a supplemental when it’s appropriate and get it right.”
“We’re waiting on the White House and [the Pentagon] to let us know, but we have an open dialogue about it,” he said when asked whether Congress could pass a $50 billion supplemental funding bill.
Passing any emergency funding will be a major fight on Capitol Hill, with Democrats already decrying the lack of details about how much the military is spending and Republican fiscal hawks wary of more spending. Reuters reported Tuesday that Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg has been leading Pentagon work on a roughly $50 billion request.
Asked about a $50 billion request in a separate interview, Majority Leader Steve Scalise said, “Well, we’re nowhere close to that.”
“I mean, yesterday at the briefing, it was brought up that there may be a need for a supplemental,” he added. “But we’re still just in the first few days of this conflict, and there’s no no ask yet from the Department of War for a supplemental.”
Scalise said, “When that time comes, we’ll obviously have very serious conversations because it’s important that the Department of War have the tools they need to keep America safe.”
House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said in an interview that he didn’t know the specific number yet but that he would support an emergency funding bill of tens of billions of dollars.
