House Republican Conference leaders will meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Tuesday evening for a briefing on the Trump administration’s request for a $350 billion defense funding boost as the nation continues military operations in Iran.
Speaker Mike Johnson announced the briefing during a press conference on Tuesday, July 14, saying the meeting would allow Republicans to hear directly from Pentagon leadership about the administration’s defense priorities. “Secretary Hegseth and his team will go through and outline a lot of this. Much of that is going to be classified for us,” Johnson said.
The briefing comes as House GOP leaders finalize a framework for a third budget reconciliation bill that would bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate. The bill is expected to combine significant defense spending increases with provisions advancing Trump’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would impose voter ID and other voter registration restrictions.
Johnson emphasized the stakes for national security, saying, “We live in dangerous times. We’re fighting communism on our own shores, and we’re fighting evil terrorists and tyrants around the world, and we have to be able to protect our national security.” The president has publicly called for effectively doubling defense funding.
The White House’s separate supplemental request for $87 billion in defense spending includes $67 billion specifically for the Iran war, along with funds for other priorities including addressing an ongoing Ebola outbreak and providing aid to farmers. The supplemental breaks down into $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for operational costs, $12.1 billion for classified Pentagon programs, and smaller allocations for fuel, readiness, cybersecurity, drones, and National Guard support.
Senate Democrats have expressed skepticism about the proposal. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) noted during an Armed Services Committee hearing that the supplemental request comes on top of a presidential budget proposal that would increase the Pentagon’s budget by over 40 percent in a single year, raising concerns about the cumulative impact on federal spending and deficits.
Senate Republicans, however, have urged their Democratic colleagues to support the supplemental. “People wanted to talk about munitions, and so this is a munitions supplemental, and I really would be really disappointed if my Democrat colleagues say out of hand we’re going to reject the supplemental,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said during the same committee hearing.
The House Budget Committee is expected to mark up the reconciliation bill framework on Thursday, with floor action in the House planned for the following week. House GOP leadership hopes to pass the budget resolution before lawmakers depart for the August recess.
Sources
- The Hill — Speaker Johnson’s announcement of the Tuesday Pentagon briefing with Defense Secretary Hegseth regarding the $350 billion defense funding request and the Iran war context
- AP News — Details on the House GOP’s $95 billion reconciliation package, including defense spending allocations for the Iran war, farm aid, and voter registration requirements
