White House requests $83.4 billion in supplemental spending

The White House is seeking $83.4 billion to pay for military aircraft, vehicles and operating costs in Iraq and Afghanistan for the remainder of this fiscal year and to boost State Department and foreign aid programs.

The military's portion of the request, which comes to $75.8 billion, includes about $600 million to buy four more F-22 Raptor fighter jets for the Air Force to replace combat losses of older aircraft, a source closely tracking the issue said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday he has decided that those planes should be the last F-22s bought for the Air Force, capping the fleet of stealthy fighters to 187 -- shy of the 240-plus Raptors the Air Force wants.

Full details of the request were expected to be sent to Congress Thursday evening. If approved by Congress, the latest fiscal 2009 supplemental spending request would bring total funding for the wars since fiscal 2001 to nearly $950 billion.

The supplemental also includes $4 billion to buy lightweight versions of the Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles for use in Afghanistan.

The MRAPs, whose V-shaped hulls provide increased protection against roadside bombs, have been used heavily in Iraq, but the terrain in Afghanistan has proven difficult for the original, heavier versions of the vehicle to maneuver.

Also included in the Defense Department's $75.8 billion portion is $400 million to train and equip the Pakistan military, a central piece of the new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan announced by President Obama last month.

But how that funding is distributed could get some opposition on Capitol Hill. House Foreign Relations Chairman Howard Berman and others concerned about the military's expanding role in foreign assistance have indicated they may fight to move that money to the State Department's Foreign Military Financing program.

Last week, Berman introduced legislation that would authorize $3 billion to train and equip Pakistan's military over the next five years, as well as another $7.5 billion in economic and development assistance. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is working on similar legislation.

"With respect to the Pakistan legislation, Chairman Berman believes it's important to have aid to Pakistan go through non-military hands and be administered [by the] Department of State," a Berman spokesman said. "He hopes to influence the way the supplemental is distributed and hopes the legislation he introduced will offer a guidepost."

The supplemental request also includes more than $7 billion for State Department and foreign aid.

Congress has already approved $65.9 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, and another $1.2 billion for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.

The additional request, if approved, would bring this year's total to $151.4 billion - far less than the $187.7 billion appropriated in fiscal 2008 and the $171 billion approved for fiscal 2007.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that this will be the last supplemental spending request for the wars. The administration has already earmarked $130 billion for military operations next year, but officials have said they do not want that funding tagged "emergency."

"The honest budgeting and appropriations process that the president has talked about falls somewhat victim to the fact that this is the way that wars have been funded previously," Gibbs said. "So we can't wait until the appropriations process is done in ... August or September to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in June."

The military has said it needs the money by Memorial Day, leaving lawmakers, who are in the middle of a two-week recess, a little more than a month to negotiate and approve a final spending package.

House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., said recently that he expects House appropriators to take up the bill by the end of the month, with floor consideration expected in early May.