The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve submitting to Congress a funding request for the war with Iran exceeding $200 billion, reports The Washington Post, citing a senior administration official.
According to three sources who spoke to the newspaper, the sum under discussion would significantly exceed the costs already incurred during the military campaign. The funds, they said, are intended primarily to urgently expand production of key weapons systems, whose stockpiles were depleted during strikes on Iran.
At the same time, some White House officials doubt that such a request could be approved, the WP source noted. A significant share of Democrats in Congress is expected to oppose it.
Sources also say that over the past two weeks the Pentagon has presented several funding scenarios, and the final amount the department will request from lawmakers has yet to be determined.
By some estimates, costs exceeded $11 billion in the first week of fighting alone. The Financial Times reported that since the start of the war the Trump administration has depleted stockpiles of critical munitions intended to last for years, including long-range Tomahawk missiles.