GOP divided over whether to 'shovel more money' into Trump’s biggest crisis

On Wednesday, a new report revealed that Senate Republicans are in a standoff over whether to use their final weeks in the majority to “shovel more money” into President Donald Trump’s most looming crisis. According to Semafor Congressional Bureau Chief Burgess Everett, the GOP is divided over whether to push through its “last supper” – a budget reconciliation bill that may be their final chance to fund party priorities for years to come, which would include spending billions more on Trump’s war with Iran.

As Everett explains, while Senate Republicans have spent the week overcoming disagreements, “They still haven’t figured out how to use their greatest power in the lame duck: another big party-line bill that would send billions to the Pentagon. Such a proposal could contain other GOP priorities; Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, dubbed it the ‘last supper’ for the party’s reign.” Republicans are running out of time to push through a budget reconciliation, which would allow them to avoid a filibuster and send Trump funding his allies consider vital for replenishing diminished military reserves and ammunition after nine months of war. Democrats have suggested they would block a government funding bill if it includes money for the Iran conflict, so the GOP needs to come to an internal agreement fast if Republicans want to secure the money.

“But passing a party-line bill is not going to be easy,” writes Burgess. “It requires 50 Senate votes, a majority in the House, and two unlimited Senate vote-a-ramas that defeated or retiring members may have little interest in enduring.” And Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-WI), who would be responsible for teeing up another big party-line bill, said he’s worried the party isn’t moving quickly enough. As he told Semafor on Tuesday, “Right now, I’m not getting engagement from the White House, from either Senate or House leadership. So if that’s going to happen, it’s going to come from the pressure from members here.”

According to Burgess, “Republicans are divided over whether they should shovel more money towards the Pentagon with the Iran war is ongoing, particularly since many in the GOP cite the conflict as one of the main reasons for the party’s brutal losses in this month’s midterm elections.” A growing number of Republicans are also signaling public frustration over the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who avoided a House impeachment on Tuesday, but is still being hammered by congressional Republicans over Iran and his blocking of military promotions over issues like race, gender and political views. What’s more, Republicans admit that they don’t have a framework for how to overcome such issues. “I think we’re going to have a plan,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) after a long day of internal GOP meetings. “If you’re asking me if we have a plan right now, I wouldn’t recognize it if it jumped up and yodeled and bit me in the butt.”

The clearest divisions have emerged in regard to funding the war. To one side is Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS), who asserts Republicans “need to get reconciliation done.” Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) said the party needs to pass a “strong” reconciliation bill and that it’s not going to be specifically for the war with Iran, elaborating, “That has a lot more to do with funding our military and giving them what they need than it does the war.” On the other side, however, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) argues it would be “tone-deaf” to pass such a bill and vowed to oppose it. He argued that passing anything “to further or enhance the Iran war, I think that’s not listening to the electorate.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) agreed, saying, “I can’t imagine why we would do that.” And both Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) are skeptical of using reconciliation.

According to Burgess, “Republicans would not brand the effort as an Iran war funding bill, but they would have a difficult argument to make if the conflict continues. Many Republicans have wanted the war to end as soon as it started.” While some Republicans have argued that a reconciliation bill could be their last chance to “jam” through their priorities, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said repeatedly this week that he’s not sure he or House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can secure the votes needed to pass it.