The White House is expected to ask Congress for an extra $50 billion in military spending to replenish stockpiles of weapons used in the Iran war and other recent Middle East conflicts, Reuters has reported.
Sources told Reuters that Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg has been leading the Pentagon effort to draft a supplemental military spending package that could be released as early as Friday. The $50 billion figure is preliminary and may change.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that Congress is waiting for the request and expressed support for passing it. “We’ll pass a supplemental when it’s appropriate and get it right,” he said. “We’re waiting on the White House and [the Pentagon] to let us know, but we have an open dialogue about it.”
The Reuters report said the Trump administration plans to hold meetings on Friday with executives from Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and other major weapons makers to discuss accelerating production to replenish weapons used in the war with Iran. The US has been burning through Tomahawk missiles and air defenses, including THAAD interceptors, Patriot missiles, and SM-3 missiles.
The war with Iran, which shows no sign of slowing down, will likely be used by President Trump to further justify his desire for a $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, about a 50% increase from this year’s budget, which was already at a record high of just over $1 trillion.
