Pentagon Wants $200B for War
The Defense Department has prepared a funding proposal that would exceed $200 billion to support military operations against Iran, according to officials within the administration. The plan, which has been forwarded to the White House, would extend far beyond covering the costs of the current air campaign. Instead, it focuses heavily on increasing production of precision-guided weapons that have been used by both U.S. and Israeli forces during the past three weeks of fighting, according to a report by the Washington Post. The request would come in addition to President Trump’s effort to push the next overall defense budget to about $1.5 trillion.
Officials at the White House have not yet settled on the exact amount they will ask Congress to approve. One senior administration official indicated that there is uncertainty about whether lawmakers would support a package of that size. As the conflict with Iran has continued, the Pentagon has produced several different versions of the supplemental funding proposal while costs have continued to rise. According to officials, expenses from the strikes against Iran alone exceeded $11 billion during the first week.
There are also questions about how quickly the defense industry could expand production, even with a large infusion of funding. Elaine McCusker, a former Pentagon budget official who now works at the American Enterprise Institute, warned that limits involving workforce availability, manufacturing facilities, and access to materials could slow any rapid increase in weapons output. She noted that simply allocating large sums of money does not automatically accelerate production timelines.
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