President Trump has roughly two months left to restart a full-scale air campaign against Iran before Democrats take control of Congress on Jan. 3 — and his own party is trying to stop him before that clock runs out, The Times reported.
The timing is not abstract. Days after Tuesday’s midterm elections delivered the sharpest electoral rebuke in half a century, U.S. diplomats urged Arab counterparts to brace for intense fighting, nonessential foreign service and intelligence personnel across the Middle East were ordered home, and the U.S. carried out limited strikes on Iran on Friday. A renewal of all-out attacks remains a distinct possibility, two U.S. officials told The Times.
Vance breaks ranks, and the war becomes the ballot explanation
Trump insisted the day after the vote that his war against Tehran was worth the political cost. His vice president saw the same result very differently.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” JD Vance wrote on social media the day after the election. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”
“But everyone knows why we lost,” he added, “and any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
Trump, responding, agreed on the merits but stood by the original decision. “I think it’s largely true,” he said, “because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again. Because long term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
He was not done. “The Iran thing, we had to do,” Trump continued, “and we continue to do it.”
Massie’s impeachment articles put the Pentagon chief on the clock
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky plans to present impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth next week over his role overseeing the war effort — a measure expected to gain enough support from Republicans to pass. Hegseth faces intense scrutiny for allegedly misleading Trump about the war’s risks, specifically regarding the safety of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and for orchestrating a highly controversial wartime purge of top military brass — including the Army secretary and chief of staff — when combat was at its fiercest. Hegseth calls the effort a “sham,” likening himself to Trump, who was impeached twice by the House in his first term.
“Their obsession with political theater, disguised as power, drives them to try to destroy their opponent. It’s all about the politics of personal destruction,” Hegseth said in a video on the steps of the Defense Department, which he and Trump have attempted to rebrand as the Department of War. “It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”
Trump, while maintaining public support for the Defense secretary, has begun surveying advisors and confidants over Hegseth’s performance, according to multiple reports, a frequent tactic of the president before he proceeds with a firing.
Munitions run low as the war of attrition grinds on
The conflict has settled into a war of attrition: sporadic strikes both ways, a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, and Tehran restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz. No ceasefire or peace agreement is in place, and negotiations remain stalled.
U.S. supplies of critical munitions remain a top Pentagon concern after eight months of conflict, and defense officials told The Times that the campaign has already consumed multiple munitions per target to ensure successful strikes, raising internal questions over the conduct of the war under Hegseth’s leadership.
Democrats already see the funding fight coming
Once the new Congress is sworn in Jan. 3, the new majority will be able to withhold defense funding unless the Trump administration ends the conflict. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, poised to chair the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters Thursday that an intense debate over war funding is coming.
“When we get back together, we are going to be able to discuss precisely that question,” Raskin said. “But I can tell you that there is tremendous sentiment within the majority caucus, just like there’s tremendous sentiment in the country, that this war has been an absolute folly and a disaster, and we have to try to reverse Donald Trump’s mistake the best we can.”
“Certainly, the funding of the war is going to be a huge issue,” said Howard Wolfson, a Democratic political strategist and advisor to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “I imagine the Democrats will be willing to shut the government down over it, rather than hand the president money for the continuation of the war.”
Tehran reads the same returns
The midterms were watched closely in Tehran, where Iran’s chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a warning Wednesday: “Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message.”
If the U.S. government “betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers,” he added, “it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare.”
Times staff writer Justine McDaniel contributed to this report.
The next dated decision on the calendar is next week, when Massie presents his impeachment articles against Hegseth. Whatever happens then will say a great deal about whether the president’s window for renewed strikes closes by choice, or by Jan. 3.
