WASHINGTON -- House Republicans are plunging ahead with a plan to approve extra military spending more than four months into the Iran war, but the package is much smaller than the broader boost President Trump has been seeking -- and its passage remains uncertain due to divides in the party.

The GOP is trying to lock down tens of billions of dollars before the midterm elections to help cover ballooning military costs. On Thursday, the House Budget Committee advanced a framework for a $95 billion package that would provide as much as $73 billion in defense and intelligence funding and $12 billion for farm assistance. An additional $10 billion would be allocated toward measures to tighten voting rules in states, attempting to partially address a key demand of Trump's.

"Republicans support election integrity, our troops, and of course our farmers, and this vehicle will demonstrate all of that," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) told reporters this week.

Johnson will attempt to bring the budget framework to a vote on the House floor before the chamber breaks for its August recess. If the framework passes the House and the Senate, lawmakers would then try to write and pass the actual bill.

"We're going to work hard to get it passed on the floor. People have questions just as we did going through the process, but I feel very good about what's in the bill," said Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R., Pa.), the vice chair of the House Budget Committee. "I think they are good Republican priorities that the American people support."

But the push faces several hurdles. Already, some GOP lawmakers are balking, saying they need more information on the Iran war as well as the details of the package. Some also expressed concerns about the proposal lacking measures to offset fresh costs. House Republicans have a narrow 219-212 majority, which includes one independent who caucuses with the GOP, meaning they can only lose a handful of votes.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R., Ohio) said he believed the bill was "DOA," or dead on arrival, while other conservatives protested the lack of spending cuts to help pay for the new spending.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) said he would have to check the package before deciding on whether to support it. "We're going to need to be walked through why it's important, what the long game is with this resolution and legislation, and what they're attaching to it," he said.

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R., Texas), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, acknowledged there are "sensitivities" within the GOP conference about the bill.

Democrats on the budget committee questioned the billions in funding going toward a war that has no resolution in sight.

"This budget resolution gives an additional $73 billion for President Trump's unauthorized and very unpopular war in Iran," said Rep. Becca Balint (D., Vt.).

The GOP-controlled Senate has also been cool to the plan. The House is using a process called budget reconciliation, which would allow the Senate to pass the framework and subsequent legislation with just a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes typically required under the filibuster rule.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) backs more military funding, but said the House plan would face uncertainty in the Senate. He said it wasn't clear whether Republicans could muster the 50 votes needed for passage from their 53-47 majority, and the process would also allow Democrats to propose unlimited amendments that could be politically costly for Republicans.

"Is the juice worth the squeeze?" he said.

Back in June, the White House had made a request for $87.6 billion in supplemental spending related to the Iran war and farmer aid, among other items. Pentagon leaders have said that if funding can't be secured, they could start running out of money for operations this summer.

But Trump for months has also been pressuring Republicans to approve $350 billion in military spending through party-line reconciliation, part of a broader, unprecedented annual Pentagon budget proposal of $1.5 trillion. It sought to fund projects such as the $17 billion for the Golden Dome missile shield and secure tens of billions of dollars for munitions, ships, aircraft and satellites. He reiterated that goal Wednesday.

"We have to get moving on this. $1.5 trillion we're going up to. We need it," Trump said at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) said if the Pentagon wants Congress to provide more funding for the Iran war, its leaders need to provide more detailed information about costs and strategy.

"Our No. 1 job as a nation is to provide for national defense. We need to take it seriously. The department needs to take it seriously. They need to come to Congress and explain exactly what is going on," said Ernst, a member of the Armed Services Committee. She said she also wants to know "what they're going to achieve with those dollars, and really how we wrap this conflict up."

This week, the Pentagon's comptroller nominee Jules Hurst said he doesn't have an updated estimate on the cost of the Iran war, sticking to a $29 billion estimate he provided in May. This estimate doesn't include damages to U.S. military facilities and other assets, he told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Write to Maya Davis at maya.davis@wsj.com, Yoko Kubota at yoko.kubota@wsj.com and Olivia Beavers at Olivia.Beavers@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2026 09:18 ET (13:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.