Iran conflict could be push GOP needs for 2nd ‘big, beautiful bill’

Mourners reach out to coffins during a funeral for people killed during the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Isfahan, Iran, on March 5, 2026.(Payman Shahsanaei/ISNA via AP)

“So this conflict right now, and the future of our country and our Western values, have to be secured by additional defense spending, which can only happen in a reconciliation bill.”

Republicans passed a sweeping tax and policy bill last summer dubbed PresidentDonald Trump’slandmark One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.It was done via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to change broad swaths of fiscal law while sidelining the minority party — in this case, Democrats.

It makes that possible by lowering the threshold for advancing legislation in the Senate from 60 votes to a simple majority, lining it up with the House.

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House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said he believed an additional funding package for Iran was inevitable but added, “The politics are such that there’s no guarantee that the supplemental will pass.”

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“On top of that, the president has been talking about a big capital investment to modernize the military,� 

“If we can’t get Democrats to support either of those endeavors — I think we’ve got a better chance of getting support on an emergency supplemental than we do on a one-time capital investment — but I think that reconciliation may be the only train leaving the station that could address those important things.”

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger speaks during a press conference with other members of the Republican Study Committee as well as members of House Republican leadership in Washington, D.C., on Oct.28, 2025.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Pfluger also signaled a broader path: “Is it specific to Iran or is it more general and more broad to justincreasing defense spendingand making sure that our military has what they need to deter Iran and others?I think that’s probably the more likely path.”

However, he noted that reconciliation meant that spending would likely have to be offset by cuts elsewhere, something that could appease fiscal hawks wary of bloated spending levels.

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“So where do we find the savings?I’ve got some ideas on that.I think it’s related to fraud.I think there’s a lot of money to be saved when we look at fraud, like what happened in Minnesota with the daycares and the billions of dollars that went out the window there,” Pfluger said.

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The idea of asecond reconciliation billhas already been met with skepticism by a significant number of Republicans, many of whom have cited the GOP’s razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate.

“That would be the biggest motivating factor in another reconciliation bill,” the lawmaker said.

Chairman Rep.Jodey Arrington speaks at a news conference after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump’s agenda at the U.S.Capitol in Washington on May 22, 2025.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

And Pfluger pointed out that there was precedent — Democrats passed two reconciliation bills themselves when they last controlled Congress at the beginning of former President Joe Biden’s term.

“We should remind ourselves that they stuck together, and they were able to do that.So should we,” he said.

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But Arrington warned that lawmakers would have to move fast for something to be attainable.

“The window is closing, and I don’t see us being able to do a reconciliation bill if we get past the spring, because we’ll be too close to the election,” Arrington said.

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Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

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