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

Top House Republicans are eyeing a surge in military funding as the U.S. continues its joint operation with Israel against Iran, and some are arguing that a second "big, beautiful bill" is the vehicle to get it done.

Republicans are discussing the possibility of supplemental funding to aid the U.S. effort as Iran continues to retaliate against allies in the region. 

Senior House GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that the resulting heightened national security environment means that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the armed forces are prepared for whatever threats may arise. At the same time, they're skeptical that Democrats will provide the votes necessary to pass such a funding bill through traditional means.

"They are certainly not going to spend an additional dime on the military, on security, on any of the things that we care about," Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital of the opposing party. "The threats around the world have never been higher. They've never been greater. And we have to recapitalize after four just disastrous years of President Biden completely decimating our military."

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"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 President Donald Trump's landmark 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."

"On top of that, the president has been talking about a big capital investment to modernize the military," Arrington told Fox News Digital. 

"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."

Pfluger also signaled a broader path: "Is it specific to Iran or is it more general and more broad to just increasing defense spending and 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.

"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 a second reconciliation bill has 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.

But a senior House Republican who also spoke with Fox News Digital argued that the situation in Iran could bring the unity Republicans need.

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

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.

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.