The Trump administration is scrambling for more defense money. Here’s why it may not get it

By Lauren Fox, Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — In a closed-door briefing earlier this month, key Pentagon officials sat down with House spending leaders from both parties to make an urgent case to quickly deliver more cash to fund the US war in Iran.

But when pressed by members of both parties for details, Pentagon officials were unable to offer any meaningful specifics about why they need the money so quickly — frustrating Republicans and Democrats alike, according to two people in the room.

Now, with the Pentagon’s reserves further depleted, the administration is unfurling a full-court press on Republican lawmakers in hopes it can clinch tens of billions of dollars that officials are seeking this summer as the US continues its fight against Iran.

In the last week, the Pentagon invited dozens of House members for a marathon meeting that included face time with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Select members – including the head of the chamber’s powerful Appropriations Committee – have also been invited to Camp David and Vice President JD Vance trekked to the basement of the Capitol on Wednesday to sell the plan to GOP rank-and-file, arguing Republican unity is essential.

But several GOP members told CNN they still lack critical information about the military’s capacity and needs – and aren’t convinced by what they have heard. Even those Republicans who support the funding push fear that a fraught political gamble in the waning days of summer could lead to a legislative implosion just months before the midterm elections.

“It’s a risky proposition,” Majority Leader John Thune told reporters in the Capitol last week, referring to other House GOP efforts to pass a party-line bill for defense and other priorities. “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”

Not much time to act

The Defense Department said it has had meaningful engagements with lawmakers.

“The Department of War has conducted hundreds of engagements with individual members of Congress, or groups of them, over the last two months,” a Defense Department official said. “This, in addition to the consistent provision of budget rollout briefs, informational requests from committees of jurisdiction, and the regular interactions of the Department and the Hill, represents one of the most productively aggressive and appropriate legislative engagement packages in many years.”

For months, defense hawks in Congress have been warning the Pentagon’s munitions and funding have been badly depleted since the beginning of the war in Iran. Lawmakers anticipated they’d need to pass some kind of a supplemental funding package before the end of the fiscal year and congressional leadership has made it clear they want to move swiftly.

“Among the defense people, it’s an emergency that needs to get done,” Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho said. “They’re going to run out of money in mid-August.”

Rep. Steve Womack, an appropriator from Arkansas, argued “the Pentagon people I’ve talked to say if we’re still having this conversation in August, that’s not a good thing” and Rep. Ronny Jackson, a member of the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign affairs committees told CNN the deadline is “serious.”

“We need to get it done as soon as possible,” Jackson said.

But the emergency argument isn’t resonating with everyone. Some conservatives have threatened they could vote against the funding because it would simply go on the nation’s credit card. Others argue they aren’t clear why the Pentagon is in such desperate need for money after billions were infused to the Defense Department as part of the last sweeping party-line policy bill.

CNN has reached out to the Defense Department for comment.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who said he recently turned down a visit to Camp David because he wasn’t interested in a “sales pitch” on the funding, said he still has a lot of questions.

“That’s a lot of money to blow through in a very short period of time, and I’m not saying they didn’t,” Fitzpatrick said, but “they shouldn’t just expect us to go along with whatever they say. I mean, they got to make their case.”

One Republican member who spent Tuesday night at the Pentagon argued that even after a nearly four-hour meeting at the defense headquarters, they still weren’t convinced.

“To me they didn’t make any compelling argument. The microphones didn’t even work,” the member said. “They are asking for $1.5 trillion and they had chips and dip.”

Another member who is undecided on a $95 billion plan from House GOP leaders for defense and other priorities, Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, told CNN “a lot of us believe there should be pay-fors.”

GOP leaders are still moving quickly and have signs for hope.

“I think right now having depleted a lot of our nation’s munitions in both Ukraine and Israel that now we have to respond to that emergency whether you are for or against the US involvement in both of those conflicts. I think responsible lawmakers must come together to ensure that our military has a stockpile of munitions to deter the next conflict. Our adversaries need to know that we are well armed, trained and equipped,” Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican from New York, said.

The House budget committee was able to advance the proposal unveiled by GOP leaders last week, which includes $60 billion for the Pentagon and $13 billion for intelligence agencies. And leadership is confident they can try to bring it to the floor for a vote in the week ahead. But even if Speaker Mike Johnson is able to muscle it through his chamber, GOP senators are expected to make significant changes to the legislation, which also includes grants to finance President Donald Trump’s “SAVE America Act” and billions in aid for farmers.

In the Senate, aides and members argue that the chamber is likely to push for far more money for the Pentagon than the House bill includes. The $73 billion for defense is just a fraction of the original $350 billion the administration floated previously as part of their $1.5 trillion budget request. The smaller number came after conservative members of the budget committee argued they would only be comfortable with a fraction of the $350 billion if the money was not going to be offset.

“In the budget committee we have driven down the excess ask,” Rep. Erin Houchin, a Republican from Indiana, told CNN. “We put some downward pressure on that.”

If the funding is increased in the Senate, that could have an impact on the vote total when it ping pongs back to the House.

In the wake of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death, all eyes are on the incoming Senate Budget Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, a budget hawk, who could also push for spending offsets for the defense funding in his own framework. That’s a potential issue for moderates in the House who have argued they don’t want to be taking tough votes on cuts to programs before their re-elections.

It is also not clear if provisions related to the President’s “SAVE America Act” will pass muster with the Senate’s parliamentarian, who will have to decide what is germane under Senate rules. If the president’s voting bill isn’t permitted, that too could sink the prospects in the House.

“The SAVE America Act needs to be in,” Rep. Chip Roy, a conservative from Texas, warned. “If there is not a mandatory here on ensuring the voter rolls are correct, citizenship is being checked, voter ID is being checked then we have a real problem.”

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CNN’s Ted Barrett contributed.

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