Congress poised to block Trump team’s $1.5 trillion defence budget bid

The US Congress is unlikely to approve the Donald Trump administration’s record $1.5 trillion defence budget request for the 2027 fiscal year.

According to a report by The Washington Post citing congressional sources, budget negotiations have stalled due to cross-party disagreements.

Roughly 30 US lawmakers interviewed by the newspaper said that defence policy and spending bills had reached an “impasse” following the total collapse of bipartisan consensus and personal friction between members of Congress and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The Trump administration aims to divide the requested funding into two tranches, seeking support from a portion of Democrats for an initial $1.15 trillion package while pushing through a second $350 billion portion solely with Republican votes.

According to the report, Republicans have failed to secure even internal consensus to pass this second $350 billion package.

The US defence budget for 2026 stands at approximately $1 trillion, which includes a one-off allocation of $150 billion approved by Congress last year for priority objectives ranging from the development of advanced weapons systems to incentivising the American defence industry.

The new budget requested by the administration foresees a 40% increase in defence spending, covering funding for new weaponry and replenishing stocks of precision-guided missiles expended during the war with Iran.

Defence Secretary Hegseth also asked Congress to allocate an additional $67 billion for military operations, including the conflict with Iran.

The Washington Post noted that lawmakers have very limited time to resolve the crisis, as only 20 working days remain for Congress before the end of the year.

Bill for Middle East military operations mounts

The US proposed that defence spending be taken into account when allocating privileges within NATO.

According to a report by The Hill based on a US Central Command (CENTCOM) assessment, Washington’s expenditure on military operations targeting Iran has risen by more than $3 billion over the past month, reaching $47 billion.

The CENTCOM document indicates that munitions procurement constitutes the largest share of military spending at $29 billion.

Additional costs tied directly to conducting combat operations amount to roughly $12 billion, while $6.1 billion is needed to replace lost military equipment and hardware.

Expenditures for supporting personnel deployed to the region, air transport, communications, and logistical transit in the theatre of operations are calculated at $7.6 billion.

Expenses required to repair and rebuild US military bases in the Middle East were not included in this official cost breakdown.

In July, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a $1.15 trillion defence budget bill by a margin of just 216 votes to 212.

Six Democratic lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, while seven Republican lawmakers voted against their own party.

The Washington Post had previously reported that the Pentagon faced a severe funding shortfall.

The White House had requested an urgent $67 billion from Congress to cover military spending.

The newspaper noted that if lawmakers failed to act, the military would soon be forced to make far more painful concessions.