Congress expects $100 billion war request

WASHINGTON — Congress expects a new White House request for as much as $100 billion this year for war and related costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, congressional officials say.

It would be the third and largest Iraq-related request from the White House yet, and could push the cost of the Iraq war over $200 billion — far above the initial White House estimates of $50 billion-$60 billion. So far, the Iraq war has cost about $130 billion, according to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.

War costs complicate President Bush’s plans for initiatives such as overhauling Social Security. They also threaten his pledge to halve the record $413 billion federal budget deficit.

Jim Dyer, chief of staff of the House Appropriations Committee, traditionally the first stop in Congress for any official request for money, said he expects a funding proposal from the Bush administration by Easter that “could be around $100 billion,” the vast majority of it for Iraq. Dyer expects the proposal to come as a “supplemental” request, a move that would keep it out of the budget Bush will submit in February.

The White House budget office declined to comment on the number. “It’s too early to say what our needs will be for the coming year,” said Chad Kolton, White House budget spokesman. He said the Iraq request is kept out of the budget to provide time to get a more accurate cost estimate and to make it easier to reduce funding when U.S. troops are eventually withdrawn.

Members of Congress expect a big price tag for Iraq this year.

“I hope they ask for something big,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Look, this is a test of wills. We need to show our enemies that we are not going to do this on the cheap.”

But there is growing annoyance with the White House for refusing to treat the cost of the Iraq military operations – roughly $5 billion a month, according to the House Appropriations Committee – as part of the annual budget.

“There is a feeling among a lot of members that … this war has become enough of a routine that they should be able to build it into their annual budgeting and not have to come back to us for supplemental funding of that size,” said Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., chair of the House Appropriations panel that oversees spending on foreign operations.