Republicans Confront the Massive Cost of Trump's Middle East War as Munition Stockpiles Dwindle

Republicans in Congress are confronting the staggering financial cost of Operation Epic Fury as the Iran war enters its second week, with lawmakers beginning to discuss supplemental defense funding to replenish munition stockpiles depleted by the intensity of U.S. strikes. The war has consumed precision-guided munitions at a rate that defense planners acknowledge is unsustainable without additional appropriations, raising the uncomfortable question of how to pay for an open-ended conflict when the party in power is simultaneously committed to cutting domestic spending and reducing the deficit. The fiscal reality of modern warfare -- where a single B-2 sortie can cost tens of millions of dollars -- is colliding with the political reality of a Republican caucus that came to Washington promising fiscal discipline.