With a narrow partisan majority, House Republicans pushed through a $95 billion budget plan on Wednesday—a high-stakes move aimed at funding the White House’s military campaign against Iran and other administration priorities just ahead of the midterm elections.
The vote, which passed 216-214, saw two Republicans and one independent break ranks to side with unified Democratic opposition.
The House of Representatives vote took place as U.S.-Iran conflict over control of the Strait of Hormuz threatens to expand regionally, with Tehran’s retaliatory strikes targeting military and energy sites in energy-rich Gulf neighbors.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will hold Iran responsible for any attacks on commercial ships transiting through the Hormuz. The crisis is expected to raise oil prices as Iran-allied proxies warn of attacks on oil-laden vessels transiting through the Red Sea.
🚨216-214, Speaker Mike Johnson passes resolution to advance $95 billion Iran war, ag and elections package plan
Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), one of a few Rs to oppose it, tells us “I ran on don’t bankrupt America”
Now sits until Sept until Senate GOP decides how they want to…
— Meredith Lee Hill (@meredithllee) July 22, 2026
On Capitol Hill, Speaker Mike Johnson’s Republican-only approach exposed deep fractures within the House, with fiscal conservatives balking at the absence of spending offsets to balance the massive outlay.
Democrats seized on the proposal as a misallocation of resources and questioned whether the administration had presented a clear strategy for conducting the conflict while seeking billions in additional funding.
The funding push unfolds against a backdrop of congressional paralysis ahead of November midterm elections, with stakes rising for both the GOP and Democrats in the midst of a host of domestic challenges and evolving foreign policy priorities. Lawmakers remain locked in a standoff—unable to halt presidential military strikes, yet unwilling to formally authorize the use of force, even as they are compelled to appropriate billions of dollars to sustain the campaign.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Trump administration’s justification for the Iran war during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, where Hegseth testified on the administration’s request for $67 billion in additional… pic.twitter.com/z0wm4pR8Cb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 22, 2026
Recent surveys show a majority of Americans oppose the current Iran conflict. Americans have expressed reservations about a prolonged conflict. Risks posed to U.S. troops deployed to the region and weariness over foreign entanglements also weigh on people’s minds.
President Trump, who has ordered strikes against Iran over the Strait of Hormuz dispute, attended a dignified transfer of four service members killed in the Middle East, raising the military death toll to 18.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told lawmakers during a congressional hearing that Pentagon coffers are running low—despite having received a $150 billion one-time allotment in last year’s big budget bill.
Beyond defense, the budget resolution carves out $13 billion for other national security functions, $12 billion to support farmers reeling from the administration’s tariff policies, and $10 billion tied to voting-law changes—including proof-of-citizenship requirements—aligned with the SAVE America Act, a key Trump priority.
However, even with House passage, Johnson’s Republican-only strategy faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, where bipartisan compromise is typically essential, leaving the resolution’s ultimate prospects far from secure.
Kiran Asim is a writer who covers the U.S., Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East. Her reports and analyses look at the geostrategic issues and contemporary developments and their economic and political implications. She also writes about society and education.
