The US Department of Defense budget is forever bloated. Like a bloated whale carcass fed by a hustle and bustle of contractors, corporations, and ever-expanding military operations, the Department of Defense is the heart of a financial ecosystem that stretches across the globe. Given that nearly $1 trillion is allocated annually to its function, it is a little shocking that the Trump administration is claiming that the so-called “War Department” is about to run out of money.
The Pentagon is warning lawmakers that they could soon run out of cash if Congress does not approve pending requests for additional funding, according to sources who spoke to NBC News. So what spending is the cause of the budget deficit? First and foremost, Trump’s war with Iran.
After initially claiming that the war with Iran would cost about $25 billion, the estimated total cost of the war – which Trump re-examined on Wednesday – has risen to over an estimated $132 billion.
While the overall cost of operations is one thing, the Defense Department is also telling Congress that it will need additional funding to replenish weapons supplies and weapons systems that are being depleted.
We may have to start “parking jets and shutting down exercises,” a former Pentagon official told NBC News.
In the background, Trump is demanding from Congress a further 44 percent increase in annual Pentagon funding – on top of the $150 billion already approved through the “Big Beautiful Bill” last July. The move would increase the US military budget to over $1.5 trillion per year. The Defense Department itself is requesting $67 billion in additional emergency funding from Congress.
The demands have bogged down Republicans in Congress, who face tough re-election bids in the coming midterm elections and are wary of pouring billions more into Trump’s deeply unpopular Iranian quagmire.
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But the president himself is increasing the pressure to comply. “The War Department has never been ‘hotter.’ We must keep it that way, and that’s why when Congress returns we must pass Reconciliation 3.0, with $350 billion for defense and the SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. “I call on House and Senate leadership to make this their top priority and ensure that $350 billion for Recon 3.0 clears the Appropriations Committee as soon as Congress returns.”
In a rare move, both houses of Congress condemned the war on Iran in separate, nonbinding resolutions in June. Despite broad popular support, an apparent lack of funds and discontent from his own party, Trump refuses to withdraw from the conflict. On Wednesday – during a press conference at the annual NATO summit – Trump declared that the barely achieved ceasefire and peace talks with Iran were over. That night, the US military renewed its bombing campaign against Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz. The president celebrated by posting dozens of videos of these explosions on his social media – taxpayer dollars in flames.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/military-pentagon-out-of-money-funding-1235591604/
