Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday Congress has to “adequately fund defense” amid the military campaign in Iran as he declined to rule out a possible $200 billion emergency Pentagon infusion.

Johnson spoke shortly after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to rule out a supplemental spending request of that size at a morning news conference. The Washington Post first reported the $200 billion figure, which Blue Light News has not independently verified.

“I’m sure it’s not a random number,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol, saying he expected any funding request to be “detailed and specified.”

“So we’ll look at that. But obviously it’s a dangerous time in the world and we have to adequately fund defense, and we have a commitment to do that,” he added.

Republicans on Capitol Hill fear the total price tag of the war is climbing rapidly, with the war effort costing more than $1 billion a day by some accounts. But many are still in the dark about how much total funding is needed.

“I don’t know what’s going to come in yet, so everything’s up in the air,” Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) said when asked if he would support such a large funding package. “I can’t qualify any answer for you.”

Several Democrats immediately rejected the suggestion of a $200 billion funding bill out of hand, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise declined to say if such a request could pass the House.

Asked if the request should be scaled down before coming to Capitol Hill, he said, “We will have a negotiation at some point.”

“But it hasn’t started yet,” he added. “It will happen soon.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) endorsed Rep. Kevin Hern’s bid for the open Senate seat in Oklahoma to replace Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Thursday, as Republicans look to avoid a messy primary in the red-leaning state.

Thune called Hern a “proven conservative leader” and supporter of their shared Republican agenda. “He will be a great asset in the Senate and has my full support and endorsement,” Thune said in a statement.

The seat is open after President Donald Trump tapped Mullin to replace Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security secretary.

Trump had previously endorsed Hern for the Senate seat in a post on Truth Social.

“A true friend of MAGA, Kevin is now running for the United States Senate, where I know he will continue to do an incredible job,” Trump wrote. “Kevin is strongly supported by the fiercest MAGA Warriors in Oklahoma, and the most Highly Respected Leaders in the United States Senate!”

Hern is running in November for a full term, but Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will need to appoint a successor in the coming weeks to serve until then. By state law, the person who is appointed to fill the seat temporarily cannot run for the full term.

Other major Republican figures in the state — including Stitt and Rep. Stephanie Bice — have said they would not run for the Senate seat.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted Thursday to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be the next Homeland Security secretary, after the Oklahoma lawmaker clashed with committee Chair Rand Paul in a surprisingly tense Wednesday confirmation hearing.

The vote fell mostly along party lines, with a notable vote swap. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, voted against advancing Mullin’s nomination. Paul took Mullin to task Wednesday over past disparaging comments Mullin made against him and the nature of “special missions” he claimed to have taken as a member of the House.

All but one Democrat — John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — voted against advancing Mullin’s nomination.