According to a senior administration official speaking with The AP, the Department of War submitted the spending request to the White House. Congress will have to pass a supplemental military spending bill to authorize the funding.

Democratic Representative Ro Khanna was quick to criticize the additional spending in a post on X. The Congressman argued that the money would be better spent on welfare programs. Several other Democrats came out against the proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not directly denounce the potential bill, but did say that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hegseth must testify about the war. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson endorsed supplemental funding for the Pentagon.

He said, “Obviously, it’s a dangerous time in the world and we have to adequately fund defense, and we have a commitment to do that.” Johnson added that the Department of War would need to present Congress with a detailed proposal.

Trump’s war against Iran appears to have a slim majority of support in the House and Senate. A War Powers Resolution aimed at forcing the President to end the conflict narrowly failed in both houses.

At a press conference on Thursday, Hegseth said the number requested by the Pentagon could change. “As far as $200 billion, that number could move, obviously. It takes money to kill bad guys,” he explained.

“After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today,” Kent said in his resignation letter to President Trump, which he posted on X.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he said.

Kent”s comments about Iran not posing an “imminent threat” are significant since he was a high-level intelligence official and had access to the information that the US government had at the time before the US and Israel launched the war. He went on to criticize the influence of Israel and its supporters over Trump’s decision and US foreign policy in general.

The healthcare workers are a growing problem, as Amnesty International issued a new report today calling on Israel to stop deliberately attacking hospitals and ambulances, noting that the IDF claims them to be used for military purposes but provides no evidence that this is actually the case.

“Israel is deploying the same deadly playbook it used in 2024 in Lebanon to kill dozens of health workers and devastate healthcare services,” noted Amnesty’s Kristine Beckerle, adding that Israel never properly investigated such violations during the previous war, and now is right back to doing the same thing in the current conflict.

On Wednesday, strikes hit facilities in Iran’s Bushehr province tied to the gas field. Following the attack, Israeli officials told Axios that the operation was conducted in coordination and with the approval of the White House.

A source speaking with the AP claimed that while Washington was aware Tel Aviv planned to strike the gas field, the US did not participate or give its approval.

According to Iranian media, the strikes sparked a fire that emergency crews are working to extinguish. The Iranian military said it would respond to the attack by striking energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

“These centres have become direct and legitimate targets and will be targeted in the coming hours. Therefore, all citizens, residents, and employees are requested to immediately leave these areas and move to a safe distance without any delay,” Iran’s IRGC explained in a statement.

Tehran’s threat caused a spike in global oil prices, with Brent Crude up five percent.

While the White House has avoided targeting Iranian energy sites in previous operations, Israel bombed oil facilities near Tehran earlier this month. Axios reported that those strikes angered Washington.

The White House may have sought to avoid strikes on Iranian energy facilities because Tehran is likely to respond by attacking oil infrastructure in Gulf Arab countries allied with the US.

Gabbard told the committee that after two weeks of Israeli and US bombardment, Iran’s military projection capabilities had been “largely destroyed” and its strategic position “significantly degraded.”

However, Tehran has achieved some important success in the conflict: the government remains intact and in control of the country, Iranian forces continue to fire missiles at US allies and bases in the Middle East, and Iran has been able to prevent US- and Israel-linked cargo from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

In her opening remarks, Gabbard attempted to hype the alleged threat that Iran poses to the US. “Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with conventional and nuclear payloads that put the United States at direct risk,” she told the committee.

The official, acting assistant secretary of defense for the Department of Homeland Defense John Humire, told the committee that these operations-referred to as Operation Southern Spear-are “saving American lives.” So far, according to Defense Department statistics, over 157 people have been killed in the 45 strikes against alleged cartel boats since September.

“Interdiction is necessary, but insufficient. Deterrence has a signalling effect on narco-terrorists and raises the risks with their movement.”

Humire’s remarks raised alarm amongst congressional Democrats, who are concerned if the strikes have had any meaningful impact on the amount of narcotics entering the US; as well as the legality of the strikes and the possibility of another “forever war”, that is, another open-ended foreign conflict with no clear goals or stated end date.

Humire claims that since the start of the operation, there has been a 20 percent reduction in drug vessels travelling the Caribbean, and a 25 percent reduction in East Pacific traffic. However, committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) questioned if these numbers reflect the fact that smugglers have simply moved to new shipping lanes or land routes.

Dave DeCamp

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