House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana declared on Tuesday that Congress is “inevitable” to approve a supplemental spending bill for the ongoing conflict with Iran, though he awaits a formal request from the White House for additional funds.
“I think a supplemental funding bill for [the] military is inevitable,” Johnson told reporters at the Republican caucus retreat in Doral, Florida. “We don’t yet know what the details of that will be. As you know, in the process it’s submitted by the administration to Congress and then deliberated upon and passed.”
“We were anticipating a supplemental even before the Iran operation began, so that will happen. The timetable is yet to be determined,” he added.
Johnson’s remarks followed reports that the United States spent $5.6 billion on military munitions during the first two days of Operation Epic Fury. Since February 28—the start date of the joint U.S.-Israel conflict—the administration has not released any public assessment of the costs.
Representative Mike Kennedy of Utah stated on Tuesday that an Iran supplemental package would be “very expensive,” though he could not specify exact figures. Johnson noted he could afford to lose only one Republican vote if the supplemental bill reaches the House floor, assuming all members are present and Democrats remain unified in opposition.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York stated on Sunday that Congress would address a potential supplemental spending package for Operation Epic Fury “when we get to it.” He criticized President Trump’s pledge not to engage in an endless war in the Middle East, noting: “President Trump has now done the exact opposite. And absent him actually providing us with a compelling rationale, he’ll have a difficult case to make on Capitol Hill.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reported Tuesday that Operation Epic Fury is succeeding “faster than we anticipated.” “The president and U.S. military originally aimed for four to six weeks to achieve the objectives of Operation Epic Fury—destroying Iranian missiles and their production capabilities, destroying their navy, permanently denying them nuclear weapons, and weakening their terrorist proxies in the region,” she said in remarks that aired live on multiple platforms.
“We know the U.S. military and our warfighters are quickly executing these objectives well ahead of schedule,” Leavitt added. “But ultimately, the operations will end when the commander in chief determines the military objectives have been met, fully realized, and Iran is in a position of complete and unconditional surrender whether they say it or not.”
