Vance, House GOP Push Ahead on Politically Risky Iran War Funds

House Speaker Mike Johnson Photo by Graeme Sloan /Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloom

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(Bloomberg) — Congressional Republicans are moving forward with a plan to ramp up spending on President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Iran despite the political risks of backing an unpopular military campaign that has spiked consumer prices. 

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Vice President JD Vance is set to travel to Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon to rally House Republicans behind the measure, which calls for $95 billion in new spending with $73 billion to pay for Iran-related costs.

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The timing of the funding measure heightens the danger for vulnerable Republicans representing competitive districts since the midterm elections are only months away and escalating hostilities are again driving up oil prices at a time voters are focused on the cost of living.

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The spending plan, unveiled earlier Wednesday by House Republicans, also would provide $12 billion in new aid to farmers, a key Republican constituency that has been financially squeezed by higher costs from the Iran war and Trump’s trade conflicts. There is also $10 billion for elections, likely to be given to states that implement tighter identity documentation requirements for voters sought by Trump. 

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The spending plan has stoked internal Republican tensions over its impact on the budget deficit. In recent weeks, conservatives pushed for spending cuts to offset the extra funding but they were rebuffed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team after moderates balked at additional cuts to the social safety net. 

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“Safeguarding American elections and strengthening our national defense are the most basic responsibilities of Congress and are supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans,” Johnson said in a statement. 

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The party plans to use an arcane budget process to ram the budget bill through the House and Senate by September without any support from Democrats who with few exceptions oppose the Iran war. 

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It is not yet clear if the plan has enough backing in the Senate. Some military hawks have pushed to fully fund a $350 billion Pentagon boost requested by the White House earlier in the year before the administration made a more limited $67 billion emergency Iran war funding request in recent weeks. Deficit hawks had pushed for either amount to be offset by cuts in entitlement programs.

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Democrats Pounce

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Democrats plan to use the pre-election votes on war funding in the fall campaign, tying it to the spike in consumer energy prices that the conflict with Iran has sparked. Some 60% of Americans say the war against Iran has not been worth it while only 34% said the military action has been worth it, according to a Quinnipiac Poll last month.

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Pennsylvania Representative Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, tied the effort to last year’s $4 trillion Trump tax and budget bill, containing tax cuts that skew toward the wealthy even as it added to the national debt and cut Medicaid and food stamp funding.