House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Monday that any request for supplemental funding for the conflict in Iran would be “beyond the pale” due to the lack of details given to Congress.
Jeffries slammed the idea that the White House and congressional Republicans could be inching toward putting supplemental funding for Iran in a bill and passing it through a budget process called reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber.
“You’ve got the administration without any plan, any objective, any exit strategy, has gotten us into this reckless war of choice in the Middle East, so the notion that they would come up here and ask for additional money is beyond the pale at this moment, start by explaining why we’re in this to begin with, because they failed in that regard,” Jeffries said at a press conference.
Republicans have been pushing the idea of a second reconciliation bill in recent weeks ahead of the midterm elections, but the conflict in Iran has prompted questions over whether the budgetary tool would be used to fund military operations.
“As you know, I’m very insistent upon a reconciliation package, and we’re trying to find the final provisions of it everybody can agree to,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters Monday. “I think defense spending could be a part of that, but we have to wait. You know the details are coming together.”
Any supplemental funding for Iran coming from Congress has an uphill battle, as Johnson maintains the slimmest of majorities.
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Republicans have largely stood behind the president as the conflict in Iran continues to unfold.
The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution earlier this month, which would have required President Donald Trump to remove armed forces from hostilities with Iran within 30 days unless authorized by Congress.