Budget Supplemental Would Give Pentagon Billions for Epic Fury, Munitions, Space Force Programs

President Donald Trump’s administration is asking Congress for an extra $21 billion to boost munitions stockpiles, $17.3 billion to pay for operational costs from the conflict with Iran, and $4 billion for high-priority Space Force programs, according a June 24 supplemental funding request.

The full request, sent by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, is for $87.6 billion, covering everything from construction on Penn Station in New York City to Ebola response in Africa to temporary economic assistance for farmers.

But the focus, OMB Director Russ Vought wrote in a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), is reimbursing the Pentagon for Operation Epic Fury, the massive campaign against Iran.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States executed 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. 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,” Vought wrote, using the alternate title for the Department of Defense.

The total request for the Pentagon is $67.1 billion, but notably, that figure is not all Iran-related:

$21 billion for munitions
$17.3 billion for operational costs
$12.1 billion for other classified programs
$5.1 billion for cybersecurity and autonomy
$4 billion for Airborne Moving Target Indication and Space Data Network Backbone
$2.4 billion for drones
$1.7 billion for readiness
$1.5 billion for fuel costs
$1.2 billion for administration priorities
$0.8 billion for National Guard support

On May 12, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller Jules “Jay” Hurst III estimated that the cost of Epic Fury to be $29 billion, but he cautioned the total was not completely comprehensive. On June 23, the day before the supplemental was submitted, the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank estimated the cost to be somewhere between $36 billion and $42 billion, including the cost of replacing munitions expended.

Munitions being the biggest ticket item of the supplemental is hardly surprising. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected claims that the U.S. stockpiles were running low because of the Iran conflict, the U.S. hit more than 13,000 targets during the campaign, and Trump invoked the Defense Production Act earlier this month to increase munitions production.

Money for fuel, too, is expected given the thousands of flights necessary to move forces into the region and sustain them during operations.

The funding for the Space Force, however, is notable. Airborne Moving Target Indication is a nascent but high-priority program to build satellites that can track aerial targets, while the Space Data Network Backbone will be a high-bandwidth satellite communications constellation.

The Space Force’s 2027 budget request included upwards of $12 billion for these programs—but put most of it in the reconciliation “bucket,” meaning it would be funded by a $350 billion party-line bill outside the usual appropriations process.

The fate of that reconciliation package is still in doubt, and some analysts previously suggested to Air & Space Forces Magazine that the Pentagon could shift some of its top priorities to the supplemental bill to give them a better chance of passage.

Top Republicans in Congress were quick to voice support for the supplemental request: Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee and its defense subcommittee, respectively, said in a statement that the request “reflects the reality that our defense strength must be maintained, not merely demonstrated,” and Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said lawmakers should “act without delay to pass this vital funding measure.”