House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday revealed his long-awaited plans for a massive $95 billion emergency funding request to pay for defense spending, including for the Iran war, and to promote President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on election laws.
It’s a massive gamble by Johnson, with no certainty that it can pass the House, let alone the Senate, with a huge faction of the party still uneasy about the White House’s strategy in Iran – and about putting the costs on the nation’s credit card. But the Pentagon is applying heavy pressure, urging lawmakers to pass the funding by the August recess.
Johnson’s plan, which still needs to go through multiple steps before it reaches the House floor, would spend up to $73 billion on the Pentagon and national security, including backfilling key agencies that have so far funded the Iran war.
It also includes up to $12 billion in agriculture aid to help struggling farmers amid the White House’s ongoing trade war. It would include up to $10 billion for state election grants aimed at promoting Trump’s SAVE America Act.
Perhaps the most controversial part is what is not included in the outline: Republicans are not planning to pay for the legislation with the anti-fraud measures that GOP hardliners once planned. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, among others, had previously described the third agenda bill as a chance for a once-in-a-generation revamp of government programs to save taxpayer dollars and prevent fraud. He had been looking at healthcare programs, as well as the earned income tax credit program.
