Emboldened Democrats gear up to challenge Trump over Iran war, Gulf business ties
Democrats are weighing options to enforce Congress’ authority to declare war.
WASHINGTON — Democrats plan to use their newly won control of Congress to challenge President Donald Trump’s foreign policy in the Middle East, including by squeezing funding for the Iran war, reexamining aid for Israel and investigating his family’s Gulf business ties.
Voters on Tuesday delivered a stunning rebuke of Trump, with Democratic candidates flipping at least seven Senate seats and dozens in the House of Representatives. The midterm came nine months into a war against Iran that one-third of voters in an Associated Press survey conducted in the run-up to the elections said was a “crucial” factor in how they voted.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vice President JD Vance said in an X post Wednesday. “It drove the gasoline up a little bit short-term,” Trump told reporters.
When the new Congress convenes in January, Democrats will step up pressure on Trump to end the war he launched without congressional approval on Feb. 28. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the president is required to remove combat troops from hostilities if Congress has not authorized the war after 60 days.
