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World · The United States and Iran

Democrats eye December funding deadline to try to end Iran war before January

Sen. Ruben Gallego says the Dec. 11 deadline is likely their strongest leverage, and Democrats weigh impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the lame-duck session.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington
The U.S. Capitol in Washington. Photo: Architect of the Capitol, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
38 news outlets reported this
Liberal16 outletsDemocrats using funding and impeachment leverage nowCenter7 outletsBoth parties' agendas for lame-duck and new CongressConservative15 outletslittle coverage
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

Democrats, who won the House and Senate in the midterms, are looking for ways to force an end to President Trump's war with Iran before the new Congress takes office. The lame-duck session began Monday, and a government funding deadline falls on Dec. 11. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told MS NOW the deadline is likely their strongest leverage.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on House Appropriations, said her party will not fund the war. Democrats are still working out how to put a directive into spending legislation that would legally compel Trump to halt the war, and Rep. Jamie Raskin said they have not settled on a specific plan, MS NOW reports. Impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is another track.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has put forward articles of impeachment, and Rep. Analilia Mejia, a New Jersey Democrat, told Newsweek she intends to vote for them. Senators have forced 14 war powers votes so far, MS NOW reports. One passed and Trump ignored it.

The latest, in September, failed 49-50. The Hill reports Senate Democrats say they have support from some Republicans to halt a conflict that has lasted more than eight months. The new Congress begins Jan. 3, 2027.

Key figures
  • Dec. 11government funding deadline Democrats see as leverageMS NOW
  • 14 votesIran war powers votes senators have forced so farMS NOW
  • 49-50result of the September Senate war powers voteMS NOW
  • more than eight monthshow long the Iran conflict has dragged onNewsNation
  • January 3, 2027day the new Congress takes officeNewsweek

Three sides of the story

16Liberal7Center15Conservative

38 news outlets reported this

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Liberal16 outlets

Democrats using funding and impeachment leverage now

MS NOW leads with Democrats who "aren't waiting until January" and builds the report around the Dec. 11 funding deadline. Gallego says, "I think we deal with the funding and we use that to end the war." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the war "must end," and DeLauro says her party will not fund it.

Rep. Pat Ryan calls the election "a referendum on Trump's disastrous war in Iran" and says getting Hegseth out is his priority. The piece also lays out the hurdles. Trump ignored a war powers measure that passed both chambers in June, Congress cannot make Iran loosen its hold on traffic, and drafting a funding directive is complicated.

An anonymous House Democrat urges treating this like the "Watergate class," and Rep. Jamie Raskin asks Vice President JD Vance for his plan to extricate the US.

Center7 outlets

Both parties' agendas for lame-duck and new Congress

Newsweek opens on how lawmakers are laying out priorities after a Democratic midterm sweep. It notes the Dec. 11 funding deadline and quotes Mejia on field hearings, ending the war and backing Hegseth's impeachment. Democrats Denise Powell and Micah Lasher stress affordability, health care, housing and childcare.

Republican Mark Lamb wants border security, and the House Freedom Caucus board lists lame-duck goals, saying of the incoming majority party, "We must deny them every legislative leverage point possible." The Hill and NewsNation run the same piece under "Democrats plot to choke off Iran war — with some GOP help." It says Democrats want to halt the war once they take the majority, and Senate Democrats say they have some Republican support.

A separate Hill piece says Democrats' foreign policy agenda must answer demands to bring down prices linked to the war and to Trump's .

Conservative15 outlets

Outlets on this side gave the story little coverage.

All sources: 62 articles from 38 outlets

Liberal (27)

Center (14)

Conservative (21)

The United States and Iran
  1. Republican Rep. Massie files impeachment charges against Defense Secretary Hegseth over Iran war
  2. US moves refueling planes from second British base, reportedly over Iran threat
  3. Democrats eye December funding deadline to try to end Iran war before JanuaryThis story
  4. Iran's foreign minister warns US to accept its two-day proposal or face escalation
  5. House votes 211-204 to block Hegseth impeachment as 11 Democrats miss the vote
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The narrow sea passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which tankers leave the Persian Gulf. About a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through it, so any threat there moves fuel prices worldwide.

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A tax on imported goods, paid at the border by the importer, who usually passes some or all of it into prices. Governments use tariffs to protect their producers or to press the other side in a trade dispute.

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