The US Defense Department has nearly exhausted its annual budget of close to $1 trillion, and it’s now asking Congress for more than $67 billion in supplemental funding to keep operations running.
The FY2026 defense budget was the largest in American history when it passed. It still wasn’t enough. Escalating military involvement in Iran has accelerated spending beyond what planners anticipated, and the Pentagon is now staring down a cash flow crisis.
Congress isn’t rushing to help
Congress hasn’t approved the supplemental funding request, and the holdup isn’t purely political theater. Lawmakers on both sides are reportedly frustrated by what they see as a lack of transparency from the Pentagon regarding US actions in the Iran conflict.
The bigger picture on federal spending
