Friday Mar 20, 2026
Friday Mar 20, 2026
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US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on 19 March
The Pentagon is seeking an additional $ 200 billion from Congress to fund the United States-Israel war with Iran, a conflict Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warns has no “timeframe” for ending.
Asked about the figure on Thursday, Hegseth did not directly confirm the amount but said that it could change.
“As far $ 200 billion, I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said. “We’re going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future.”
The Associated Press and Washington Post reported that the US Department of Defence had requested the sum from the White House.
It’s an extraordinarily high number and comes on top of extra funding the Defence Department already received last year as part of President Donald Trump’s July tax-cuts bill. Such a request would need to be approved by Congress, and it is not at all clear that such spending would have political support.
Congress has been bracing for a new spending request, but it is not yet clear whether the White House has transmitted the proposal for a war that Hegseth declined to provide a timeline for ending.
“We wouldn’t want to set a definitive timeframe,” Hegseth told a news conference, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that Trump will be the one to decide when to stop.
“It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.’”
He added that the US has already struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran and that Thursday would mark “the largest strike package yet”.
Congress, however, has not authorised the war and is showing growing unease with the military operation’s scope and strategy.
Congress is controlled by the president’s Republican Party, but many of the more conservative lawmakers are also fiscal hawks, with little political appetite for big spending, on military operations or other matters.
Most Democrats are likely to reject such a request and demand more detailed plans for military strategy and goals.
Betty McCollum, the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee with oversight over defence spending, was among those who indicated she would press for information about the war effort before considering new funds.
“This is not going to be a rubber stamp for the president of the United States,” she said.
The requested amount would be a sizable boost to the Pentagon’s annual budget, which Congress approved at more than $ 800 billion for the current fiscal year.
