WASHINGTON – Capitol Hill is bracing for an imminent ask fromPresident Donald Trumpfor billions in emergency cash to fund theescalating war with Iran.
A week into the conflict, congressional leaders, including the top Republican appropriators in the Senate and House of Representatives, have publicly said a request is almost certainly on its way. Yet exactly how much money the White House will want, when Trump will demand it and what Republicans may do to sweeten the deal are open questions.
One thing's for sure, though: If he wants more money, Trump will have to go through at least some Democrats.
See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Syria Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Iraq A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Iraq Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Qatar A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Qatar Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Bahrain A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Saudi Arabia The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Oman Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Kuwait Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw," style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Saudi Arabia A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Turkey People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
See how the Iran war's fallout is hitting the Middle East
See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.
They already seem divided about what they could do. Some, including progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, are pledging to vote no before seeing any such ask, arguing the Pentagon is flush with cash after the passage of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" and anannual defense spending billof over $830 billion.
"The Republicans have already given $1 trillion to the military," Warren told USA TODAY. "No one knows how much money is sloshing around over there and where it's being spent."
Others, such as Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, have said they need to know more specifics before making a decision.
"I'd have to look at what they're asking for," he told USA TODAY.
The extent to which that split widens – or disappears – will be a crucial variable over the coming weeks in determining whether the all-but-certain supplemental funding bill could survive both therazor-thin margin in the House of Representativesand, more importantly, the Senate's 60-vote threshold (Republicans in the upper chamber hold 53 out of 100 seats).
The infighting among lawmakers will only grow more fraught as the regional war intensifies, potentially putting U.S. troops at greater risk and raising the stakes Congress to ensure they have the resources they need.
At the same time,polling showsAmericans are largely sour on the conflict. As it gets bloodier, public pressure may grow in the opposite direction, prompting lawmakers to push more fiercely toward de-escalation rather than reaching deeper into the government's coffers.
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It's all happening during a midterm election year, when votes taken by members of Congress are always heavily scrutinized.
Though it just started, the war could cost taxpayers as much as $1 billion a day, according tosome estimates, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, the most senior Democrat in the House, told USA TODAY. While he wouldn't telegraph how he'd vote on a supplemental war funding bill, he said that regardless of how much additional money the Trump administration asks for, it's "going to be a big number."
"I'm not going to prejudge what I'm going to do," he said.
A push to attach farm aid?
The extent of Democratic (and Republican) support for any war cash influx could hinge on how big the legislation becomes. Anytime a must-pass bill sweeps through Congress, it could balloon as other policy priorities are added to it.
A senior GOP aide told USA TODAY that Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, the Republican chair of the Senate committee overseeing agriculture, is looking to advance a farm assistance package that could be attached to a supplemental defense spending bill. Squeezed by Trump'ssweeping tariffsand broader market disruptions, producers of major crops have been pleading with farm-state lawmakers in Congress for help.
Read more:Republicans are beefing with Trump over beef
No potential add-ons are set in stone yet, though. House SpeakerMike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and other GOP congressional leaders are keeping their options open for how to approach additional defense spending as they await further direction from the Pentagon and White House.
"There are more details to be determined, of course, how long the operation goes and what the need is," Johnson told reporters on March 3 after a briefing on the situation in the Middle East.
In the halls of the Capitol the next day, he said a war funding bill would only pass "when it's appropriate and we have the right amount."
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Congress stands between Trump and emergency cash for the Iran war
