By Tom Loranger, Principal
When the United States launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, one might assume that a major U.S./Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran would cause activity in the nation’s capital to grind to a halt. But within hours, the White House and Capitol Hill went right back to partisan bickering – that is, business as usual.
While the war in the Middle East will continue to dominate headlines for the foreseeable future, Washington politicians are aggressively engaging on several legislative fronts. Of course, war costs must be addressed.
While existing funding should cover war expenses in the immediate future, speculation is rampant that the Trump Administration will submit a “supplemental appropriations request” of up to $50 billion to support the war effort. (A “supplemental”, as it’s known, is a request for money beyond already-approved funding due to unexpected or emergency developments.) It’s too early to tell how Congress might react to such a request. In order to “sweeten” the package, there’s talk of adding disaster relief funding for California fires and tariff-related relief for farmers.
In the coming weeks, the President is also expected to submit his Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget. (FY 2027 runs from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027). Reports indicate that the budget will include $1.5 trillion for national defense – a roughly 50 percent increase from FY 2026. It’s easier to predict how Congress might react to that request!
Congress is starting its own work on the FY 2027 budget. The “budget” consists of 12 separate appropriations bills that fund everything from the Pentagon to farm programs. Incidentally, Congress has yet to approve the Fiscal Year 2026 budget for the Department of Homeland Security. (Efforts to pass this legislation blew up amidst the Minneapolis chaos.) That means that many DHS employees, including those at the Transportation Security Administration, are continuing to work without pay. Hello flight delays!
To complicate matters further, along comes the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act). Among other things, the bill would require voter registrants to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and photo ID when voting. The House of Representatives passed their version in February. The bill has been stalled in the Senate where legislation usually requires 60 votes to advance. (Currently, the Senate is 53Rs and 47Ds.) Supporters say the legislation is needed to ensure the integrity of our elections while detractors say it will disenfranchise millions of citizens who lack access to the necessary documentation.
President Trump weighed in last weekend to say that the SAVE Act “must go to the front of the line” in terms of Congressional priorities. He also wants SAVE to include a ban on biological males playing in women sports and forbidding transgender surgeries on children.
All of this is playing out with the Congressional midterm elections looming on November 3 when all 435 house seats will be contested along with roughly one-third of the 100 Senate seats.
War? What war?
