Some Democrats Don’t Want To Wait For January To Block Trump’s War In Iran

Democrats will take control of Congress in January. Their first chance to burn President Donald Trump’s checkbook for the Iran war could come even sooner.

Lawmakers face a Dec. 11 deadline to extend federal funding or spark a government shutdown — just weeks before Republicans lose their majorities in the House and Senate. And after Democratic moderates and progressives alike campaigned successfully on ending the war in Iran, some in the party now say any year-end spending measure must block cash for the military conflict.

Democratic leaders have yet to announce whether they will try to use the moment to limit resources for Trump’s offensive, but the party’s top House appropriator isn’t ruling out a year-end fight.

“Democrats will absolutely not fund Trump’s war of choice with Iran that has increased costs on American families and made us less safe,” Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro said Thursday in a statement to POLITICO.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — on tap to become speaker next year — said in a statement, “we will have a leadership conversation” with DeLauro “about Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in Iran.”

But, he added, “it is clear from this election that the American people are demanding accountability and an end to the war.”

At least two potential presidential candidates in 2028 are pushing Democrats to play hardball with Republicans, using their influence with the Democratic base.

“I agree that the reason Republicans lost is the Iran war,” Rep. Ro Khanna said on social media Wednesday. He argued that Congress should “end the Iran war like we did for Vietnam,” referring to a 1973 move to cut off funding for military operations in southeast Asia.

The California Democrat, whose allies just launched a “Run Ro” committee to raise money for a potential presidential bid, also called on Democrats to support a stopgap funding patch in December that would bar federal dollars for “any combat activities of the U.S. military in Iran.”

“No capitulating,” said another presumptive presidential contender, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, in an interview with The Bulwark this week. He urged Democrats to “stand strong” on blocking Iran war funding, adding that the party was “in a position now where nobody should be afraid anymore” given its “massive majorities” in Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is expected to lead the Democratic majority next year, said in an interview Thursday that he is currently working with Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, “to get something done” on government funding before the shutdown deadline.

Murray, in a statement, also attributed Democrats’ midterm gains to the unpopularity of the Iran conflict: “The American people just voted overwhelmingly to put an end to this war, and we are going to look at every tool we have available to us to bring this disastrous war to an end.”

But Murray and Schumer have not forecast whether Democrats will demand a cutoff of dollars for the Iran war during the upcoming funding negotiations. Schumer did, however, say publicly this week that he sees Congress’ funding power as a means to bring the conflict to an end.

“We are going to end the war,” he pledged during a Wednesday news conference at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “And the founding fathers had the power of the purse as one of the ways of deterring a president who does war without the consent of the American people.”

While some might find it appealing to use the Dec. 11 funding deadline as an immediate leverage point, it raises the odds of a government shutdown that spills into the new year and overshadows the new majority’s other policy goals. Democrats will have to weigh the pros and cons of instigating a confrontation they won’t necessarily win given opposition from the White House and some Republicans still in Congress.

“I don't know where our leadership is on this one, but I would say that definitely there’s got to be a way to wind this down instead of saying ‘no funding,’” a House Democratic appropriator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said in an interview. “There's got to be a way to reasonably wind this war down under better conditions.”

Bill Hoagland, a former longtime top Senate Republican budget aide, said in an interview Thursday that Democrats face a “dilemma” over the issue.

“Clearly part of their success the other night was because of their opposition to the war, and the American public's opposition to the war,” he said. “At the same time, I don't think Democrats want to be, during the lame duck, accused of creating a shutdown.”

Democrats have been consistent for months in their opposition to the Iran conflict, voting repeatedly on war powers resolutions. They have also fought against Trump’s request for a record-breaking $1.5 trillion military budget, as well as his pleas for an emergency funding package to cover the costs of the war.

But going forward — especially in the House — Democratic leaders have been keen on talking with all of their factions before making any big decisions on legislative strategy, and Jeffries has already reiterated that commitment to collaboration after their midterm blowout. So charting the course for how to handle shutdown negotiations will be up for discussion in coming weeks.

Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in an interview this week Democrats will be in a “stronger negotiating position” next year. While he did not say how his party should navigate the upcoming funding deadline, he did caution Democrats against making legislative compromises with Republicans before the balance of power flips.

“These guys just got told by Republican voters that they shouldn't be in charge,” Casar said. “We should listen to the voters and not give these corrupt guys much of a say on what happens next.”

Jordain Carney and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.