House Republicans push second reconciliation bill to fund Iran war

House Republicans are moving forward with a second budget reconciliation package, ending months of speculation over whether the House would attempt to push a second Republican-only megabill through Congress before the November midterm elections.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, Republican of Texas, said Wednesday he wants the measure to fund President Donald Trump’s campaign in Iran and enact anti-fraud provisions that offset the high cost of the planned defense injection.

“This is an opportunity to solve two problems, address two challenges and advance two great causes: funding the military, providing a strong defense, winning the war, achieving the goals and doing it in a way that doesn’t put our children further in the hole,” Arrington told reporters.

“We are almost ready to craft a budget resolution,” Mr. Arrington continued, while adding that his panel continues to iron out the details of the package.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House Budget Committee, center, speaks during a meeting of the House Budget Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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The Trump administration has launched a request for $200 billion to help finance the war in Iran, but has yet to make a formal request. Given Democrats’ expected opposition to an additional defense bill, some House Republicans have said a second reconciliation package is the only viable way to advance the measure and other Trump priorities in Congress.

“The Democrats blocked everything,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “So we believe, unfortunately, that reconciliation is the only mechanism to advance the rest of the president’s agenda.”

Republicans have focused on social services fraud for months and view reducing fraud-related spending as a way to offset the cost of the plan.

The budget reconciliation process would allow Republicans to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote requirement and pass a spending measure with a simple majority.

Arrington said he would work closely with Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who also announced Wednesday that his group would begin drafting reconciliation instructions. The South Carolina Republican has proposed funding increases for the military and law enforcement, in addition to voter integrity measures, as possible elements of a second reconciliation bill.

“Let’s put it this way: the reconciliation train is leaving the station,” Graham posted on X after the two lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss a second megabill.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building July 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Although Republicans are likely to broadly support additional defense funding and fraud prevention measures, a second megabill could still face major obstacles.

Republicans narrowly passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act in June 2025, after months of disagreement within the party. Under Republicans’ slim majority in the House, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford to spare a single GOP defection in a party-line vote.

However, Arrington argued that the war in Iran would be a unifying force in moving the bill forward.

“I think funding our military in wartime, if there’s no sense of urgency and responsibility on the part of members of Congress to support our commander in chief, I can’t imagine one,” Arrington said. “I think the most important thing will be supporting our sons and daughters in uniform and making sure they have what they need to be successful.”

Arrington did not close the door on including parts of the SAVE America Act in a GOP-only megabill. However, its sweeping provisions, requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and voter ID requirements, may not meet reconciliation’s strict budget requirements.

The Trump-backed election bill is stalled in the Senate due to broad Democratic opposition, although the upper chamber continues to debate the measure.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with reporters outside his office on the 28th day of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

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Johnson, who has long pushed for a second budget bill, said Wednesday he was encouraged that Graham is moving forward on the path to reconciliation.

“I am happy to know that the Senate is interested in Reconciliation 2.0,” the speaker said. “I’ve been a broken record. We have to do this. It’s an important legislative tool.”