WASHINGTON – The Trump administration sent Congress a request on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in emergency funding to cover the cost of the Iran war and other expenses.
The proposals did not appear to have broad consensus among Democrats, who would likely need any emergency funding to become law.
Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote in a statement the administration’s request “is not intended simply to pay for the president’s disastrous war, but an effort to provide tens of billions of additional dollars for unrelated Pentagon priorities that should rightfully be considered through the annual appropriations process.”
“I will closely review this request in its entirety and ensure that our service members are taken care of, but I will not stamp tens of billions more on this disastrous election war,” Murray added.
White House budget director Russ Vought wrote in a letter that in addition to addressing “urgent needs” for the Department of Defense, the funding would help the US government help with the Ebola outbreak and provide assistance to US farmers.
Funding for the Department of Energy, he wrote, “will support nuclear and other energy security requirements, primarily for the National Nuclear Security Administration.”
The additional spending request asks Congress to provide money for “restoration and construction projects in and around Washington, DC,” as well as the project that would modernize Penn Station in New York City.
Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, wrote in a statement that she will “evaluate the administration’s additional budget request.”
“I plan to call an Appropriations Committee hearing so that senators can hear directly from the appropriate administration officials,” she said.
Additional spending requests require lawmakers to provide:
- $67.15 billion for the Department of Defense
- $11.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture to provide assistance to farmers
- $3.36 billion for the State Department for diplomatic, security, and global health programs
- $2.03 billion for the US Coast Guard
- $1 billion to the Department of Transportation to “assist in the design and eventual construction of a modernized Penn Station in New York City”
- $1 billion to the Department of Labor to “increase benefit levels for participants of certain pension plans that were sponsored by Delphi Corporation and terminated as a result of the bankruptcy of General Motors in 2009.”
- $767.5 million for the Department of Energy
- $600 million for the General Services Administration federal building fund
- $500 million to the National Park Service to improve a seawall and upgrade the World War II Memorial
- $40.26 million to the FBI for its role in the Iran war and “other classified needs”
- $36.18 million for the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
- $13.1 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s operations and support account that was part of a “classified request.”
