{"id":14151,"date":"2026-07-23T02:35:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14151"},"modified":"2026-07-23T02:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:35:53","slug":"a-key-house-dem-breaks-down-the-white-houses-unfathomable-iran-war-funding-requests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14151","title":{"rendered":"A Key House Dem Breaks Down the White House\u2019s \u2018Unfathomable\u2019 Iran War Funding Requests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\">\n<p>Weeks after the Iran War began, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) predicted to TPM that it would become a billion-dollar-a-day \u201cmess.\u201d Now, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/hegseth-sidesteps-murkowski-question-about-backdoor-war-authorization\" target=\"_blank\">taking to Capitol Hill to request<\/a> almost $67 billion in supplemental war funding, Morelle says his fears have been confirmed. And though Morelle is a member of two key committees with oversight of the Pentagon, he claims Congress has been given little information about where all the money is going.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had Hegseth in front of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and he couldn\u2019t give us an accounting and wouldn\u2019t give us an accounting. They still haven\u2019t given us an accounting,\u201d Morelle said in a conversation with TPM on Tuesday afternoon. \u201cIt\u2019s unfathomable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morelle is vice-ranking member of the House Appropriations committee and a member of its defense subcommittee. Despite these positions, Morelle said Trump administration officials haven\u2019t offered any detailed insight into their funding requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually if you\u2019re in a classified setting, they should be prepared to give you information, but they haven\u2019t done that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/21\/hegseth-pentagon-supplemental-funding-request-senate\" target=\"_blank\">on Tuesday told the <\/a>\u00a0Senate Appropriations Committee that the \u201curgent\u201d supplemental war funding was necessary to avoid \u201ccritical shortfalls\u201d in combat pay and munitions supplies that could be caused by military operations. As he made his case, Hegseth said the war, which began on February 28, had cost $37.5 billion so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That figure announced by Hegseth is far below internal cost estimates that have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/national-security\/iran-war-cost-much-100-billion-rcna587362\" target=\"_blank\">reported on by NBC News<\/a> and expert analyses, which are in line with Morelle\u2019s initial projection and amount to approximately $150 billion overall. Given that staggering total and the spike in gas prices that has come along with the conflict, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/07\/10\/nx-s1-5887393\/how-much-has-the-iran-war-cost-u-s-households\" target=\"_blank\">economists at Moody\u2019s say<\/a> the Iran War has cost U.S. households about $1,100 each.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>All of this war funding is coming in the wake of President Trump nearly doubling defense spending overall. The latest supplemental funding request totaled almost $88 billion including the money Hegseth said was specifically needed for the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As the administration has sought this increased funding, it has turned to three separate avenues: standard congressional appropriations; reconciliation legislation, which can avoid the filibuster; and the supplemental request. Morelle said this approach, which is unprecedented, has added to the overall lack of transparency since reconciliation funding can bypass appropriations committees. And he claimed the administration has not answered questions about why they have placed various requests in each different \u201cbucket.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t come to the appropriators. It goes to the authorizing committees. So the appropriators and the authorizers aren\u2019t even together,\u201d Morelle said, adding, \u201cThere\u2019s no answer. There\u2019s no rhyme or reason to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That behind-the-scenes chaos is taking place as Trump and his team have made <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/edblog\/trump-now-moonwalking-away-from-regime-change-as-fast-as-he-can\" target=\"_blank\">continually shifting statements<\/a> about their objectives in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still don\u2019t know what the goal here is,\u201d Morelle said. \u201cIt changes all the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When Hegseth previously appeared before the House Appropriations Committee, Morelle chastised him for being less transparent and up to date in his requests than America\u2019s founding military leader was in the days of quill pens and correspondence conducted via horseback. Morelle reiterated that point in his conversation with TPM.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGeneral Washington was more timely and more accurate in his reports to the Continental Congress in 1776 than the current Department of Defense Secretary is with the United States Congress,\u201d Morelle said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The increase in government spending is only one aspect of the war\u2019s cost. Morelle noted the conflict will also impact other government programs and the national debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe whole thing is alarming because, look \u2026 there\u2019s finite resources. And the United States government needs to make decisions about where we\u2019re gonna place our priorities, where we\u2019re gonna invest our money,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf everything were just defense, we could argue about that number and that number alone, but every time you make a decision about increasing defense and security spending by $600 billion, which is a 60% increase virtually over last year, it means something else isn\u2019t getting funded or alternatively, you\u2019re borrowing more money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with the financial questions, there are legal concerns surrounding the war in Iran. The <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/trump-admin-gop-leadership-scramble-to-explain-why-iran-war-is-not-war\" target=\"_blank\">War Powers Resolution of 1973<\/a> requires a president to obtain congressional approval for a military conflict or withdraw troops within 60 days of hostilities beginning. With the Iran War going far beyond that mark, the Trump administration has argued various informal and unsuccessful ceasefires marked an end to the fighting and effectively restarted the clock. Administration officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-independent.com\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/pentagon-iran-war-sledgehammer-trump-b2976798.html\" target=\"_blank\">have also suggested<\/a> that rebranding and renaming the military operation triggered a reset. Morelle flatly rejected those arguments and said it \u201cclearly stretches credibility.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is all part of [a] chain of events directed at one single adversary, one single set of circumstances,\u201d Morelle said, adding, \u201cIt would have been absurd to have put [the War Powers Act] in place if all you had to do was change the name of the operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In June, War Powers resolutions urging the president to end the conflict passed both the House and Senate. House Democrats are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/07\/22\/congress\/house-democrats-ready-iran-war-powers-vote-01007705\" target=\"_blank\">currently mulling similar legislation<\/a> and already have some GOP support.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth faced withering questioning from both Democratic and Republican senators during his testimony on Tuesday. Morelle predicted more and more Republicans could oppose the administration\u2019s funding requests or get behind future War Powers votes due to the broad unpopularity of the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they\u2019re starting to really worry about this in some quarters. It\u2019s an unpopular war, which has driven up gas prices and \u2026 the price of other things, which people are paying for. They can see that every time they go to the gas pump,\u201d said Morelle. \u201cSo you\u2019re paying more money, you\u2019re getting fewer services, whether it\u2019s Medicaid or SNAP benefits or all the other things that they\u2019ve cut. And you\u2019re now seeing, we have now 18 service members who\u2019ve lost their lives in this, which is beyond tragic. And you still haven\u2019t, have the president be able to articulate what in God\u2019s name we\u2019re doing there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recent polling has shown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/07\/16\/trump-approval-stuck-30s-post-ipsos-poll-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\">just 29% of Americans<\/a> approve of the war. That\u2019s in line with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1334328\/vietnam-war-us-public-opinion-mistake\/?srsltid=AfmBOooDpAU_H0EeXmOkM6iq35Vk_ULco3j_ErA6IOU_DsawgtAlYwHt\" target=\"_blank\">some of the worst figures<\/a> from the Vietnam War.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is historic in terms of numbers. \u2026 29% approval wrote for the conduct of the war,\u201d Morelle said. \u201cI mean, that\u2019s not even the MAGA base.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given that math, Morelle predicted that, whatever happens in Congress, the conflict will be brought to an end when voters have their say in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is happening. It\u2019s not happening at the speed with which we\u2019d like it, but it\u2019s going happen one way or another. It\u2019s either going to be the Republicans are going to say, \u2018Okay, that\u2019s it, Mr. President,\u2019 or they\u2019re going to lose their seat,\u201d Morelle said. \u201cThe American people have a way of ultimately being in charge here, which is the whole point of the thing, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite his political optimism, Morelle believes there will be serious consequences before this fight is brought to a conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately,\u201d he said, \u201cIn the interim while they\u2019re making those decisions, more money is being spent, the lack of accountability continues, and it\u2019s really \u2014 it\u2019s deeply disconcerting.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n        appId: \"101800829865996\",\n        xfbml: true,\n        version: ' v2.6'\n      });\n      window.fbAsyncInit.__didInit = true;\n    };\n    (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) {\n        return;\n      }\n      js = d.createElement(s);\n      js.id = id;\n      js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n  <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weeks after the Iran War began, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) predicted to TPM that it would become a billion-dollar-a-day \u201cmess.\u201d Now, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth taking to Capitol Hill to request almost $67 billion in supplemental war funding, Morelle says his fears have been confirmed. And though Morelle is a member of two&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2260433424.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}