Republican leaders 'bracing for a messy internal fight' over ballooning Trump spending ask

The prospect of a growing new spending measure related to the Iran conflict has GOP leaders getting ready for their own battle.

Fiscal hawks are said to be deeply unsettled by the cost estimates being floated on the spending request, Politico reports. They will likely be demanding offsetting spending cuts, even as pork is added to new proposals.

Closed-door briefings this week delivered the bad news on what was termed a “staggering price tag” for the Middle East conflict, with current spending for the Iran conflict estimated as high as $2 billion per day. The rapid depletion of munitions and the foggy outlook for a quick resolution to the war doesn’t help the outlook.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) had a blunt reply when asked to estimate the new spending.

“A lot,” he replied.

Speaker Mike Johnson indicated Congress would pass the spending bill “when it’s appropriate and get it right,” despite the current lack of specifics. “We’re waiting on the White House and [the Pentagon] to let us know, but we have an open dialogue about it,” Johnson said.

Senior Republicans told Politico they expect President Donald Trump’s administration’s spending ask to be in the tens of billions of dollars range. Trump officials have declined to provide specific numbers in the private meetings, according to six congressional Republicans granted anonymity to describe the internal discussions.

The request for supplemental funding could skyrocket once the ask is made to Congress, according to four other people with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke to Politico.

Potentially increasing the spending is tariff relief for farmers that farm-state Republicans will request, adding an estimated $15 billion, and billions of dollars in wildfire aid to get enough Democratic support for the spending.

“I haven’t seen any specifics … but if it’s unpaid-for, I generally have an issue,” Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) said. Another House Republican granted anonymity by Politico added,“It’s not a ‘hell no’ (on spending), but it should be offset somehow.”

A planned House Republican policy retreat scheduled for Monday at Trump’s Doral, Florida resort will be a key to gaining hardliner support. Trump will be speaking, hoping to persuade the reticent pols to get behind the additional funding.

There are supporters for the additional spending request by the administration. House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said this week he would support an emergency funding bill spending tens of billions of dollars on the Iran operation alone.

But others are wary of the Trump pledge to do “whatever” it takes to win in Iran, including boots on the ground. Such talk sounds like “President Lyndon Johnson going into Vietnam,” said one House veteran to Politico.

Rep. Ryan Mackenzie was wary of the ultimate cost, noting that “as much as we need to neutralize their capabilities to continue to attack us, we do also need to make sure that we don’t get dragged into a forever war.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise promised “very serious conversations” on the spending, “because it’s important that the Department of War have the tools they need to keep America safe.”

One tool that could be deployed to get the spending passed, albeit a longshot, is a budget reconciliation bill. That requires complete Republican unity, allowing the request to reach Trump’s desk without Democratic support.

House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said in an interview this week he expected an initial emergency funding bill to pass. But an anticipated second request that could be even larger will be problematic.

“It’s not just for the current conflict,” Arrington said. “There are things that need to be retooled fundamentally at the Defense Department, and the president’s team is making a really good case for that.”

Rep. Ralph Norman, one GOP hard-liner who has objected in the past to big Pentagon budgets, now says he would “absolutely” support a $50 billion bill without offsets.

“I don’t like it, but with what this president’s doing with income — the GDP is increasing, the money he’s bringing in for other investments — to handicap him on that, that’s a problem,” said Norman.

The Senate promises to be a tougher nut to crack on spending.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a senior member of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, warned that the “administration should not be taking anything for granted.”

“If they come to us at the end of the month and say, ‘This is what we want, and basically, deliver the votes’ … it’s not a winning strategy, in my view,” she said. “You’ve got to start making the case.”

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