Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) on Sunday forcefully rejected the Trump administration's request for billions in additional military funding for the ongoing Iran war, likening it to enabling an alcoholic. In an interview on ABC's "This Week," Gallego, a Marine veteran of the Iraq War and member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said Congress should not pour more money into a conflict with no clear objective or endgame.
Host Martha Raddatz pressed Gallego on the White House's request for $17.3 billion in operational costs as part of a larger $87.6 billion supplemental package submitted to Congress in June by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. The broader request includes $21 billion for the Defense Department to replenish munitions, bolster critical capabilities, and strengthen the U.S. industrial base—funds that come as the Pentagon has reportedly depleted its stockpiles of long-range missiles and interceptors after nearly six months of strikes on Iran.
Gallego, however, argued that more money without a coherent strategy would only prolong the conflict. "We are more focused on making sure that we are supporting the American warfighter and trying to… get us out of this war," he said. He echoed the sentiment of most Senate Democrats, asserting that President Trump "planned nothing" regarding the war, including any exit plan.
"What is our mission? We still don't quite understand why we went to Iran," Gallego remarked. "We don't know exactly how we're going to get out of Iran. So, for us to actually give more money to something like this is extremely dangerous. It's like giving a drunk more money and hoping that they'll stop drinking."
The Arizona Democrat, who served in combat during the Iraq War, warned against repeating the mistakes of past Middle East conflicts. "I don't want to find ourselves in another 20-year war," he said, calling the Iran war "illegal." Both chambers of Congress have passed war powers resolutions directing Trump to wind down the conflict, but the administration has argued that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional.
Over the past five-plus months, Trump has shifted between threatening severe damage to Iranian civilian infrastructure, claiming a lasting peace is imminent, and engaging in economic warfare against the Islamic Republic. Gallego insisted that before any additional funding is considered, the president must define the conflict's "end goal."
"How are we going to get out of this quagmire? What is actually the mission? Because so far the mission has changed and the objective has changed so many times," he told Raddatz. "And then we could potentially talk about the funding."
The standoff over war funding comes as lawmakers face pressure to address stopgap funding to avert a government shutdown and other fiscal deadlines. Gallego has also been active on domestic policy, including legislation requiring parental consent for teen social media accounts, but on Sunday he made clear that the Iran war remains a top priority. His comments reflect growing frustration among Democrats who see the conflict as an open-ended engagement with no clear legal basis or strategic rationale.
