As the war in Iran nears the end of its first month, the massive costs of the conflict are adding up. Last week, the Pentagon asked the White House for approval to bring a request for $200 billion in supplemental funding to Congress. A vote on such a bill would likely be close in both chambers, especially the House.
While it’s unclear if and when the funding request might make it to Congress, the Colorado Times Recorder reached out to the state’s congressional delegation to ask whether they would support the additional funding.
HOUSE
For the Pentagon’s request to pass the U.S. House, there will need to near-unanimous agreement from House Republicans, unless they can win over Democrats, due to the party’s slim majority in the chamber.
Several Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), have already said they would vote against it, putting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in a potentially tricky position.
On Wednesday, Johnson told reporters that the supplemental funding would “probably” be put forward in the form of a reconciliation bill, similar to last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO)
“I am a no. I have already told leadership. I am a no on any war supplemental. I am so tired of spending money over there,” Boebert told CNN. “I have folks in Colorado who can’t afford to live. We need America First policies right now.”
Boebert also posted a public poll to her X account Friday, with the question “Should Congress approve $200B to fund prolonged war with Iran?” Out of nearly 170,000 responses, 59.5% supported the additional funding. The congresswoman clarified in a reply to a commenter on the original post that: “For what it’s worth, I’m a yes on funding to replenish our arsenal. That doesn’t cost $200B.”
She had previously voted against a March 5 war powers resolution (WPR) in the House that would have directed the president to “remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” The resolution failed to pass, on a 212-219 vote.
Rep. Jeff Crank (R, CO-5)
Crank has not spoken about his position regarding the Pentagon’s funding request, and did not reply to CTR’s request for comment on the matter.
The congressman voted against the WPR, and, in a Feb. 28 Facebook post following the announcement that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei had been killed, wrote, “President Trump made every effort to find a peaceful, negotiated solution to this crisis. Khamenei only sought Death to America. I believe that because of his death, the U.S. and Israel have avoided a prolonged conflict that would have killed many Americans. Our country, the Middle East, and the world is a safer place tonight because of his death.”
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO)
“Donald Trump saying this is a small price to pay tells you everything you need to know. He thinks taxpayer money is monopoly money. He doesn’t care; it’s just a matter of shuffling it around. But it’s a pretty darn big price to pay for Americans, we are looking at $2 billion a day now,” said Crow during an interview with CNN on Friday. “Let’s not forget this is damaging our alliances and our reputation.”
Crow, a former Army Ranger, serves on both the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee, where he is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations.
The congressman voted in favor of the March 5 WPR and has been vocal in his opposition to the war since it began. On March 12, Crow, along with Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) led more than 100 of their colleagues in demanding answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth regarding how his department would investigate the U.S. strike on an Iranian girls’ school, which killed more than 175 civilians.
“I went to war three times for this country and learned that when elites in Washington bang the war drums, working class folks pay the price,” Crow wrote in a Feb. 28 Facebook post. “The tough talk of a five-time draft dodger falls flat for Americans tired of military adventurism. Americans want us out of the regime change business.”
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)
“The Pentagon is reportedly asking Congress for an additional $200 billion for Trump’s illegal war with Iran,” wrote DeGette in a Facebook post Thursday. “That amount of money could fund the ACA tax credits six times over. I refuse to vote for money for war when health care costs and everyday essentials are skyrocketing here at home.”
DeGette has posted about the war frequently, voted in favor of the WPR, and joined Crow in signing the March 12 letter to Hegseth.
“Iran has been the largest state sponsor of terrorism globally and a significant destabilizing force in the Middle East for decades. However, that does not give Donald Trump the authority to launch a war of choice,” wrote DeGette in a March 5 Facebook post after the WPR failed to pass the House. “The Constitution mandates that the president must receive congressional authorization before engaging in acts of war, except in very limited circumstances. To date, I have seen no evidence that there was an imminent threat against our country. That is why I voted for the war powers resolution today, which would have stopped Trump’s illegal war.”
Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO)
Evans has not made any statement regarding the Pentagon’s funding request, and did not reply to CTR’s request for comment on his position.
The former Army helicopter pilot, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee in the House, has previously spoken in support of the conflict and voted against the WPR.
Evans also wrote an op-ed for the Denver Gazette on March 15, in which he defended the constitutionality of the war based on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force that passed seven days after 9/11, which permitted military action against entities that supported the attacks and has been used repeatedly in the years since to justify U.S. military intervention across the globe.
“This is how military power should be used: quickly, overwhelmingly, and decisively. No nation-building. No ground invasion,” wrote Evans. “Current operations rely primarily on air and naval power. This same template worked in Venezuela,” Evans wrote. “It finishes the job quickly, saves lives, and sends a clear message to the world: there is no better friend — and no worse enemy — than the United States.”
Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO)
Hurd has also not spoken about his position regarding the Pentagon’s funding request, and did not reply to CTR’s request for comment.
Hurd, who recently regained Trump’s endorsement for his reelection bid after the president momentarily came out in favor of his primary opponent, voted against the WPR and has made few comments regarding the war since it began.
In a Feb. 28 Facebook post, the congressman wrote that he fully supports the president’s “decisive action” and “unwavering commitment to stand with Israel.”
“Peace is not preserved through weakness or appeasement,” Hurd continued. “It is preserved through strength, deterrence, and the clear understanding that if you threaten Americans, there will be consequences.”
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO)
“Congressman Neguse opposes the funding proposal and will not support it,” Neguse’s office wrote in response to CTR’s request for comment.
Neguse voted in favor of the WPR and also signed the March 12 letter to Hegseth. He has previously called the war “unconstitutional,” and described Trump’s decision to strike Iran as “reckless and dangerous.”
Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO)
“Rep. Pettersen does not support Donald Trump’s $200 billion funding request to Congress to fund the conflict in Iran and would vote no if it makes it to the floor,” a spokesperson for the congresswoman wrote on Wednesday in response to CTR’s questions about her position.
Pettersen voted in favor of the WPR and signed the March 12 letter to Hegseth, writing in a March 18 Facebook post that “Americans deserve the truth about what is being done in their name.”
SENATE
In the U.S. Senate, Democrats hold a 53 – 47 edge, with two independent senators included in the Democratic caucus. This means that if Republicans try to move the Pentagon funds through the chamber using a budget reconciliation bill—as they did with the (OBBBA)—Senate Republicans could lose the votes of no more than three Republicans, if no Democrats join them, and the vice president casts a tie-breaking vote.
If the budget reconciliation path is not used, then 60 votes would be required to pass the bill, meaning seven Democrats would have to join with Republicans to move the bill out of the chamber.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D)
Bennet has not made known his position regarding the Pentagon’s funding request, and did not reply to CTR’s request for comment.
The senator previously released a statement on Feb. 28 in which he criticized Trump for not seeking congressional approval before striking Iran, demanded an explanation of the administration’s plans to prevent further destabilization in the region, and announced that he would vote in favor of a similar WPR in the Senate, but like its counterpart in the House, the resolution failed mostly along party lines when it came to a vote on March 24.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D)
“$200 BILLION?! Do you know what we could do with that kind of money? Universal health care, free school meals for every child, free community college for every American. The list goes on,” Hickenlooper wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. “I’m a NO on more money for Trump’s war with Iran.”
Hickenlooper voted in favor of the Senate WPR.
“While we would certainly welcome the fall of Iran’s terror-sponsoring and repressive regime, the president’s reckless approach leaves us facing profound, unanswered questions about the new dangers he has unleashed,” the senator wrote shortly after the war began in a Feb. 28 Facebook post.
