Request for extra funding for the Iran war by the US military, worth $200 billion, has been strongly opposed by the US Congress, with the Democrats and even some republicans questioning why the money was necessary following the huge defence appropriations last year.

According to a report by The Washington Post, a US official admitted that the Department of Defence has requested the White House to accept the request.

Exclusive: The Pentagon asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to an administration official, a new ask that will likely run into resistance from lawmakers opposed to the conflict.https://t.co/tcKF2ijLPi

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 18, 2026

President Donald Trump has not sent a formal request yet to the Senate and House of Representatives, and his administration clarified that the number would change.

“I believe that figure might change, of course. Money kills bad guys,” and that is what the Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said at a news conference.

“So we will go back to Congress… to see that we are adequately appropriated for what has been accomplished.”

Preliminary reports indicate that the war will be the most costly endeavour to the US since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The officials of the administration informed the lawmakers that it had cost over 11 billion dollars during the initial six days.

According to polls, the war is not popular, as a significant proportion of Americans (four out of every four) is in favour of the war.

Record funding in the form of the Fiscal 2026 Defence Appropriations Act to the tune of approximately $840 billion has already been passed by the Republican-majority Congress.

Congress would prefer to know more.

With the war in its third week, there is a clamour amongst lawmakers to get more details on the plans put to them by Trump on the latest war that has rocked world energy markets.

“How are we ever going to afford that? It is simply absurd, it is ridiculous,” Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal said.

The estimated war costs are $1 billion to $2 billion per day, according to the lawmakers.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen remarked that the request was a non-starter.

“The most effective means of terminating this war… is to restrict funding,” he wrote on X.

Even Republicans appeared to be shocked, as did the head of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Susan Collins, who declared that “the amount was significantly more than she would have expected and that she would like to have a public hearing on the request.”