Progressive Caucus formally opposes more money for Iran war

Leaders of the House Progressive Caucus announced Wednesday that the group will oppose any more funding for the Iran war. 

Behind Chairman Greg Casar (D-Texas), the CPC is attacking President Trump’s expected $200 billion request for more war funding as an “outrageous” waste of taxpayer dollars that would be better spent at home.

“We must end this war now,” Casar said during a press briefing in the Capitol. “Democrats must unite against this outrageous request. We should join together to block the request and stop the war as best we can.”

The development is no surprise. Many members of the CPC have said individually that they’ll oppose more funding for the Iran conflict. And they’ve been joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic leaders, who are also ready to oppose another boost in Pentagon funding unless Trump comes to Congress to approve the use of military force.

Still, with almost 100 members, the CPC is a formidable force within the Democratic Caucus, reflecting the sentiments of the same liberal base voters the party is trying to mobilize heading into November’s midterms. The group’s formal opposition to more war funding puts additional pressure on Democratic leaders in both chambers to hold the line against the Iran conflict and focus instead on the domestic economy, particularly rising costs under Trump. 

With that in mind, CPC members are highlighting where they’d prefer to see $200 billion spent, including programs to expand health care subsidies, cover pre-K education costs, build more affordable housing units, cover school lunches and eradicate medical debt.  

“U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for Trump’s failed foreign policy when there is so much urgent investment needed right here at home,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.). “So, sorry not sorry DJT. You break it, you buy it. And you can take it out of your crypto money and not from the American taxpayers.” 

The funding battle comes almost a month into the Iran conflict, which President Trump launched alongside Israel on Feb. 28. Militarily, the attacks have been successful in killing top leaders of Tehran’s Islamic regime, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and knocking out much of Iran’s military capacity.

“This war has been won,” Trump said on Tuesday.

But the administration has also struggled to articulate the reasons behind the strikes, the ultimate objective of the operations, or the plan for ending the campaign. Meanwhile, the price of gas and other consumer goods have spiked since the war began. 

The muddled messages coming from the White House have invited accusations that the United States is on the precipice of another protracted conflict in the Middle East — the type of costly engagement Trump had campaigned against. If that’s the case, the liberals warned, an additional $200 billion is only the first of many more funding bills to come. 

“That’s not a one-time cost to wrap things up,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.). “That’s a down payment on a long war.” 

GOP leaders have bashed Democrats for that opposition, warning that withholding funding for the Iran war will empower Tehran at the expense of national security.

“It may — and it would be a sad outcome — that we would have to get a military funding bill done with only Republican votes,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Wednesday in the Capitol. “I don’t even think they would agree to vote on a bill that would simply restock our munitions.” 

Indeed, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a former CPC chair, said the group is ready to oppose even a much smaller and targeted request. She’s citing the billions of dollars in supplemental Pentagon funding that was included in the Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill,” while noting that Congress has not approved the conflict.

“They already have lots of money and they haven’t made a case for the war,” Jayapal said. “Just because they come with a smaller request doesn’t mean that we forget about the fact that this is still a war of choice.” 

It’s not only Democrats who could complicate the passage of the Iran funding in the House, where Republicans can afford only a single defection, assuming all members are present and voting. Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), a libertarian-leaning Republican, has a long history of opposing foreign conflicts, while some conservative spending hawks are wary of the impact on deficits and may demand offsets. 

Those dynamics have raised the odds that Republicans will be forced to move any new Iran funding through an obscure budget process, known as reconciliation, which allows the majority party to elude the Senate filibuster. 

“The first job of the federal government is to protect the people, but Democrats — I don’t think we can count on their votes to do the simple, basic responsibility of Congress,” Johnson said. “And so it is part of reconciliation, probably, and we’ll see.”

This story was updated at 1:47 p.m.

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