The White House asked lawmakers to approve $87.6 billion (£66.5 billion), mainly for “urgent needs” related to the US war against Iran, a day after Congress passed a resolution reprimanding the military action.
Most of the funding – $67 billion – is for the US Department of Defense, the White House said.
But the proposal faces an uphill battle in Congress. The Iranian conflict is unpopular with voters ahead of the US midterm elections in November, although a ceasefire is currently in effect.
US President Donald Trump has also found himself at odds with some members of his Republican Party over the Iran issue, reportedly culminating in an angry exchange with a senator on Wednesday.
That senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, was one of a handful of Republicans who defied the president Tuesday by voting in favor of a measure requiring him to end the war or seek congressional approval before pursuing military action.
Cassidy returned to the ranks after his alleged altercation with the president and after receiving assurances from members of the Trump administration. He and others then voted against another similar measure in the Senate Wednesday night.
The White House Office of Management and Budget sent a formal request for funds in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday.
“The majority of this request will address urgent needs related to Operation Epic Fury (OEF),” the letter said, referring to the war in Iran.
The request includes $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for operational costs and $12.1 billion for classified programs. It also requests about $300 million to boost security at U.S. embassies and diplomatic outposts in the Middle East and South Asia, after some of them were attacked earlier in the war.
Other requested money would be for unrelated measures, including $11 billion for U.S. farmers and $1.4 billion to combat the Ebola outbreak in central Africa.
Washington and Tehran are currently observing a ceasefire in the war, but the letter from the White House budget office notes that the Pentagon must “replenish its stockpiles” after its military strikes.
A peace plan was agreed to between Trump and Iran last week, but dissenting voices within the Republican Party have expressed skepticism about it.
The meeting between the president and senators Wednesday was reportedly tense after Trump abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for a housing bill that had bipartisan support.
At lunch at the Capitol, Trump later complained about the measure passed the night before, when the Republican-controlled Senate narrowly voted to restrict his war powers.
Although largely symbolic, the measure was the first such resolution to give Congress authority to require a president to end military action.
On Wednesday, Trump called it “ill-timed and meaningless.” On social media, he called the four Republican senators who sided with the opposition Democrats “losers.” And in a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte, Trump said the group “wants to lose the war because they are stupid.”
Later, after the closed-door lunch, Cassidy told reporters about what he claimed was an argument with the president: “I stood up and said, ‘You haven’t told the American people what’s going on.'”
Cassidy added: “It was supposed to last four weeks, it lasted four months. Our original goals were not met.”
For his part, Trump told reporters, “I think we had a very good meeting.”
But by late Wednesday, Cassidy’s concerns appeared to have been allayed, writing on X that he had received a “thorough briefing” from Vice President JD Vance and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy.
Later in the day, the senator changed his vote to help defeat another war powers resolution in the Senate — a move that was praised by Trump.
Last month, Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Jules Hurst told a congressional panel that the war has cost about $29 billion so far.
But defense analysts and lawmakers say that estimate doesn’t reflect the scale of the conflict’s financial damage.
