Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vowed on Wednesday that Democrats will end the war with Iran once they take control of Congress, signaling they are prepared to use their new majority's control over spending to force the issue. "We are going to end the war," Schumer told reporters at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, a day after his party won majorities in both the Senate and the House.
"We have some Republicans already who have joined us in ending the war," he said, "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." Schumer accused President Donald Trump of repeatedly changing his explanation of the war's mission, saying the American people "don't know what the heck we're fighting for in Iran."
Why the purse, not a war powers vote
The defunding threat reflects the limits Democrats face. Even if the Senate passes a binding war powers resolution, Trump could veto it, and Democrats lack the votes to override, The Hill noted. Schumer threatened Defense Department funding cuts to force a quick end to the conflict if needed. The White House's request for nearly $70 billion in emergency Pentagon funding, made in June, has stalled amid Democratic opposition, and the annual defense appropriations bill is also stuck. Sen. Brian Schatz, the incoming Democratic whip, has said bipartisan defense bills will be hard to pass unless the war ends.
Which Republicans?
Schumer did not name the Republicans he said had joined Democrats. Four GOP senators — Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul — voted with Democrats to advance the most recent Iran war powers resolution, according to The Hill. Sen. Bill Cassidy backed a resolution in June but voted against the later one in September.
"The days of begging are over"
Schumer also said the Senate would no longer serve as a rubber stamp for the White House, declaring, according to Anadolu Agency, that the days of the Senate being used to beg Trump are over. On the economy, he promised that Democrats would act on the cost of living as soon as the new Congress is seated, "with or without" the president's cooperation.
His comments came hours after Trump defended the war as worth its political cost and said it would end "whenever I wanted to," and after Vice President JD Vance wrote that "the reason we lost is the war." In the House, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu has pledged that Democrats "will pass a bill to stop the Iran war." The U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28 without congressional authorization.
Photos: Anadolu Agency
