Dems Have an Opportunity to Force an End to the Iran War. Will They Take It?

Democrats may have an opportunity to end the Iran war, but it comes with risks.

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Advocates want Democrats to put their money where their mouth is and risk a lame-duck shutdown to end the Iran war. For months, Democrats have forced Republicans to take vote after vote on President Donald Trump's unpopular war on Iran.

Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York have been cagey about their strategy on Iran for the lame-duck period before the next Congress is sworn in on January 3.

Opponents of the war say that, with Democrats pushing for support based on their efforts to end the war, they owe it to voters to put government spending on the line. “It will certainly demonstrate whether Democrats are willing to stretch themselves and put up a fight and get uncomfortable,” said Hannah Morris, the vice president of government affairs for the liberal, pro-Israel group J Street, which opposes the conflict.

In the months since the conflict began on February 28, Democrats and the handful of Republicans opposed to the war have poured most of their energy into votes based on the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which limits the president's power to wage war without congressional approval.

If Democrats really want to stop the war, they will have to confront questions of timing, divisions within their own caucus, and the risk of a government shutdown. One prime opportunity could be the December 11 expiration of a spending bill called the continuing resolution that has been funding the government since the last shutdown.