Pentagon’s $1.5T budget request breaks records

Cybele Mayes-Osterman

USA TODAY

The Pentagon’s record request of $1.5 trillion for its budget next year doesn’t include the cost of the Iran war, which could add hundreds of billions more to taxpayers’ load.

The Pentagon’s bottom line represents a 50% increase from last year’s ask, according to Pentagon officials. But that number doesn’t include the cost of lost infrastructure, expended weapons munitions and damage to equipment.

'This budget was formulated, honestly, before we went into conflict with Iran,' Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon’s acting chief financial officer, told reporters at an April 21 briefing.

And the Trump administration is separately planning to ask Congress for more than $200 billion in additional funding for the Iran war, the Washington Post reported.

Administration officials have refused to say how much the estimated total will be. Pressed by lawmakers at a congressional hearing last week about the price tag of the war, White House budget director Russell Vought said he did not have a 'ballpark' estimate to share.

'We’re not ready to come to you with a request. We’re still working on it,' he said.

And additional costs from the war with Iran could also add up significantly. USA TODAY reported in mid-March that munitions used in the first six days of the Iran war alone cost $11.3 billion, according to estimates the Pentagon shared with Congress.

The only overlap between the annual budget request and the extra Iran funding would be an increase to replenish weapons or changes in the construction of Middle East bases following lessons learned from the war, according to Hurst.

The $1.5 trillion request is by far the largest year-over-year increase in defense spending since the World War II era. It is split between a $1.15 trillion funding request, and a $350 billion supplemental budget request, one that would require Congress to pass a reconciliation bill like last year.

Last year, Trump asked Congress for a national defense budget of $892.6 billion then added $150 billion through a supplemental budget request, sending the total price tag over $1 trillion for the first time in history.

The latest request includes a pay raise weighted toward junior enlisted troops, getting a 7% increase, 6% for their superiors and 5% for the top ranks. The budget proposal also would expand the force, with over 20,000 additional service members in fiscal year 2026 and 44,000 more in fiscal year 2027, Reuters reported.

On shipbuilding, the latest budget request includes over $65 billion to procure 18 warships and 16 support ships made by General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries as part of what the Pentagon is calling the 'Golden Fleet' initiative, the largest shipbuilding request since 1962, the officials said.

The budget ramps up Lockheed Martin F-35 procurement to 85 aircraft per year and includes $102 billion for aircraft procurement and research and development, a 26% increase over the prior year, the officials said. Development of next-generation systems like the Boeing Co. F-47 fighter jet is also a priority, while $6.1 billion is requested for Northrop Grumman’s B-21 bomber.

The Pentagon wants $31.8 billion for next year to produce new munitions, according to slides shown to reporters, including expensive air defense systems such as the Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile systems, which the U.S. military has spent at a rapid clip during the war.

The Pentagon is 'obviously having those conversations' about reconstituting the supplies, Hurst said.

'It’s reflected not just in this budget request, but in any supplement we would or may send over to the Hill.'

Contributing: Reuters

Hurst