What Democrats Should Do Now — From Anti-War Wave to Pro-America Future
“The reason we lost is the war,” declared Vice President JD Vance in a lengthy post on X. And, he’s right. The 2026 midterm elections were an unquestioned rebuke of the forces that drive America into foreign wars, with 74% of voters citing the Iran war as a crucial or major factor in their vote.
The question now is: What will these newly-minted representatives who rode in on this anti-war wave actually do about it? To fulfill voters’ desire to silence the voices that drive America into forever wars that bankrupt Americans at home here are three simple legislative priorities Congress should enact.
First, end the Iran war. While President Donald Trump said there’s no immediate plan to strike Iran the day after the election, just two days before the election the U.S. launched strikes on an Iranian island. This is just the latest evidence that Trump simply can’t be trusted to find a path to peace. While Congress can (and has) passed war powers resolutions, demanding a halt to the Iran war, Trump can (and has)ignored them.
But, Congress has an opportunity to tie the president’s seemingly war-prone hands in the lame-duck session of Congress when government funding expires on December 11. In any negotiation over the next government funding bill anti-war Democrats and Republicans alike must dig their heels in to ensure that any government funding package does not include additional funds to prolong the Iran war. Stopping war funding will go a long way to stopping the war.
