Iran war funding: four senators vow to oppose any stopgap bill before the 11 December deadline

Four US senators said on Thursday they will oppose any short-term spending bill that keeps paying for President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, turning Iran war funding into a fight over the 11 December government funding deadline, Truthout reported. Michael Bennet, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen and Tammy Duckworth issued the joint statement.

Iran war funding: what the four senators want

The group said it wants to keep the government open while barring Trump from using funds for the war, according to Truthout. “Any short-term package must include language that restricts the Trump Administration from using appropriated funds to continue his war against Iran,” the senators said in the statement.

Bennet also wrote to his colleagues earlier this month urging them to reject a continuing resolution with “another cent for” the war. “The stakes are too high for us to fall into our usual shutdown politics,” he wrote.

Tim Kaine and the Iran war authorisation demand

The push goes beyond the four. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia told Jewish Insider on 9 November that a funding bill should say there is “no funding for a war in Iran unless you get an authorization from Congress”. He said any shutdown that followed would be Trump’s responsibility. Jewish Insider also reported that midterm exit polls showed a majority of voters disapproved of the Iran war.

Key numbers

• 11 December: when current government funding expires, per Roic News.
• 3 January: when Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress, per Roic News.
• $350 billion: the additional funding the Pentagon is seeking, according to Bloomberg, as cited by Roic News.
• $1.5 trillion: the size of the administration’s proposed defence package, per Roic News.

Democrats are not united on a government shutdown

Not every Democrat backs the tactic. Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations defence subcommittee, said that forcing a shutdown over the war would “divert us from our core objectives”, Truthout reported. Jewish Insider noted that the strategy sets up a potential shutdown in December, before Democrats take the majority in either chamber.

Background: the Senate funding deadline

The stopgap spending law enacted in September funds the government through 11 December, which sets up a showdown before the new Congress sits, according to Roic News. The Pentagon’s request is part of a wider defence package that the administration wants to move on a separate party-line vehicle, the outlet said. Our report on the Kansas governor race covers another result from the same midterms.

What happens next

Congress has until 11 December to pass a spending bill. Whether the senators’ Iran war funding limits make it into the text, and whether Republicans accept them, will decide if the government shuts down.