With a war on, Congress must keep the military from going broke

Republicans and Democrats should always agree: America’s military must never be left unprepared — especially during war.

Yet the Pentagon is now running out of cash, and Democrats recently blocked the bipartisan Defense appropriations bill.

Parts of the Navy and Air Force’s budgets for Middle East operations could run out in just 10 days, per one report.

And Congress is about to adjourn for August recess.

What are lawmakers waiting for?

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Lives are at stake, as is the fate of the Strait of Hormuz — and America’s ability to maintain credible deterrence down the road.

Congress needs to get cash to the military pronto, and then pass an adequate defense bill for the coming fiscal year.

President Donald Trump called for $200 billion in an immediate supplemental defense appropriation, as part of his $1.5 trillion ask for next year.

Yet Democrats (and even some Republicans) object, so the current ask is for just $67 billion.

Did funding foes hear the warnings from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine at Tuesday’s Senate hearing?

At risk: simply paying servicemen (with recruitments at record high levels), replacing weapons and munitions.

Beyond that is the need to get ahead of our adversaries after funding waned in the Biden years — including the tech upgrades necessary for modern warfare: Ultimately, as Hegseth put it, the goal is to create a military force “so capable it would be absurd for anyone to challenge it.”

But the immediate ask is simply the minimum needed to support our current force to maintain deterrence.

Every single member of Congress — Democrat or Republican — should recognize their moral responsibility to ensure US troops are well-resourced, particularly when they’re at war.

We get it: Democrats oppose the war (and Trump); many resent every dollar spent on defense.

But ending the Iran conflict now would be insane: It would hand Tehran a major victory, leaving it in control of the Strait of Hormuz, diminish US credibility and embolden enemies like Russia and China.

Nothing Dems do will stop the prez from pursuing victory over Iran (thank goodness); they can only make the job harder — for him and the troops.

Already the Pentagon’s reportedly had to shift funds to address its top wartime priorities, limit training and divert money meant for equipment, facilities and repairs.

Congress needs to get its act together and pass supplemental funding now, as well as a full defense budget for the coming year.

“The character of war is changing,” warned Caine, “and capital is needed to properly arm.”

Lawmakers of both parties should have no higher priority than getting that cash OK’d fast.