Federal funding runs out on December 11, and the fight over what to attach to the spending bill has become the first test of how far Democrats will go to end the war with Iran before they take control of Congress in January.
A deadline that lands before the majority
Lawmakers return to Washington next week with a short to-do list and little time: a funding extension, the annual defense authorization bill, expired programs and a backlog of nominations. Leadership in both parties expects a stopgap measure that carries spending into early 2027, when the new Democratic majorities could try to impose limits through a full-year budget.
Some Democrats do not want to wait. In a letter circulating on Capitol Hill, progressive lawmakers argue that December 11 is the first real chance to use the power of the purse. Any continuing resolution or appropriations bill, they wrote, should "explicitly prohibit any funding for the ongoing, unauthorized hostilities against Iran."
What the progressives want
The argument borrows from the Vietnam era, when Congress used funding restrictions to cut off expanding operations in Southeast Asia. Supporters say the party campaigned on ending the war and would look hollow if it passed a clean extension.
Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said her party "will absolutely not fund Trump's war of choice with Iran that has increased costs on American families and made us less safe." She has not ruled out a year-end fight.
Leadership is keeping its options open
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has promised to end the war but has not said he will attach a funding ban to the December bill. He said this week that he is working with Washington Senator Patty Murray to pass a funding measure before the deadline. Aides to Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries did not endorse the letter's approach.
The hesitation is practical. A shutdown fight would begin while Republicans still hold the majority and would put federal pay and services at risk weeks before the new Congress is seated. Some senators prefer the defense authorization bill as the vehicle, where language blocking specific operations could be negotiated.
Republicans, meanwhile, are weighing a year-end reconciliation package that could fund the war without Democratic votes. Voters in last week's midterms blamed the conflict for higher gasoline, diesel and grocery prices, a link Democratic candidates repeated in nearly every close race.