GOP Budget Hawk Johnson Backs War as Vital to Ending Iran Threat

March 18, 2026, 9:52 PM UTC

Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican noted for his focus on curbing spending, defended President Donald Trump’s pursuit of the war against Iran ahead of a possible supplemental funding request.

“I hate to see the death, I hate to see the destruction,” Johnson said Wednesday in a Bloomberg Television interview. “But the sad fact of the matter is, Iran has been at war with us for 47 years.”

Johnson, who serves on the Budget, Finance and Homeland Security committees, expressed concern about the asymmetric costs of the ongoing conflict, noting that it takes “$3 million missiles to shoot down ...

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