House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has not heard yet about a funding level of up to $50 billion for emergency cash to support the war effort in Iran, but said lawmakers will "pass a supplemental when it's appropriate and get it right."
The White House hasn't yet requested the money, but administration officials are reportedly considering seeking the funding, Politico reported Wednesday.
"We're waiting on the White House and [the Pentagon] to let us know, but we have an open dialogue about it," Johnson said when asked if Congress could pass a $50 billion bill for supplemental funding.
It could be a hard fight to get members of Congress on either side to pass an emergency funding bill. Democrats are complaining that there are not enough details on military spending, while there are Republicans who are concerned about approving more spending.
Reuters on Tuesday reported that Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg has been leading the Pentagon's work on a request of $50 billion.
However, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, in a separate interview, said the House Republicans are "nowhere close to that."
"Yesterday at the briefing, it was brought up that there may be a need for a supplemental, but we're still just in the first few days of this conflict, and there's no ask yet from the Department of War for a supplemental," Scalise said.
But when that time comes, he added, "we'll obviously have very serious conversations because it's important that the Department of War has the tools they need to keep America safe."
Meanwhile, House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., said he does not know the specific number for emergency funding, but he said he would support a bill for tens of billions of dollars.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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