WASHINGTON — Just days ago, a resumption of war with Iran appeared inevitable, regardless of the outcome of the midterm elections. U.S. diplomats urged their Arab counterparts to prepare for an intense period of fighting. Nonessential foreign service and intelligence personnel across the Middle East were ordered home, while senior officials at the Pentagon debated the strategic objectives renewed hostilities could realistically achieve, two U.S. officials told The Times.
Now, the sharpest electoral rebuke in half a century is forcing a reckoning for President Trump, who insisted the day after the vote that his war against Tehran was worth the political cost. Renewed strikes on Iran remain a distinct possibility, the officials said.
But a sudden bipartisan push to oust Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the conflict, coupled with a statement of brazen defiance from his own vice president, JD Vance, opposing the war, could constrain Trump’s ability to resume the fight before Democrats take control of Congress next year.
A Republican lawmaker from Kentucky, Thomas Massie, plans to present impeachment articles against Hegseth next week over his role overseeing the war effort — a measure expected to gain enough support from Republicans to pass.
While maintaining public support for the Defense secretary, Trump has begun surveying advisors and confidants over Hegseth’s performance, according to multiple reports, a frequent tactic of the president before he proceeds with a firing.
Hegseth faces intense scrutiny for allegedly misleading Trump about the war’s risks, specifically regarding the safety of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. And he orchestrated a highly controversial wartime purge of top military brass, including the Army secretary and chief of staff, when combat was at its fiercest.
U.S. supplies of critical munitions also remain a top Pentagon concern after eight months of conflict, and renewed fighting would further strain stockpiles. Defense officials told The Times that the campaign has already consumed multiple munitions per target to ensure successful strikes, raising internal questions over the conduct of the war under Hegseth’s leadership.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote on social media the day after the election. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.
“But everyone knows why we lost,” he added, “and any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
Responding to the vice president’s remarks, Trump said he agreed with him on the merits but stood by his initial decision to go to war — and would continue the fight if necessary.
“I think it’s largely true,” Trump said, “because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again. Because long term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.
“The Iran thing, we had to do,” Trump continued, “and we continue to do it.”
If Trump chooses to proceed with renewed strikes, he will have roughly two months to do so before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
Once Democrats take the gavels of the House and Senate, the new majority will be able to withhold defense funding unless the Trump administration ends the conflict. And a split Republican Party will give them a substantial boost in votes to demand a new direction in the war effort.
“Certainly, the funding of the war is going to be a huge issue,” said Howard Wolfson, a Democratic political strategist and advisor to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “I imagine the Democrats will be willing to shut the government down over it, rather than hand the president money for the continuation of the war.”
In recent months, the conflict with Iran has settled into a war of attrition. The two sides continue to exchange sporadic strikes, while the United States maintains its naval blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran restricts access to the Strait of Hormuz. No ceasefire or peace agreement is in place, and negotiations remain stalled.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland poised to become chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters Thursday that he expected a robust debate over war funding when the new Congress is seated.
“When we get back together, we are going to be able to discuss precisely that question,” Raskin said. “But I can tell you that there is tremendous sentiment within the majority caucus, just like there’s tremendous sentiment in the country, that this war has been an absolute folly and a disaster, and we have to try to reverse Donald Trump’s mistake the best we can.”
Hegseth has pushed back against the coming impeachment effort as a “sham,” likening himself to Trump, who was impeached twice by the House in his first term.
“Their obsession with political theater, disguised as power, drives them to try to destroy their opponent. It’s all about the politics of personal destruction,” Hegseth said in a video on the steps of the Defense Department, which he and Trump have attempted to rebrand as the Department of War. “It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”
The midterm elections results were also watched closely in Tehran, where Iran’s chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a warning Wednesday.
“Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Qalibaf wrote on social media.
If the U.S. government “betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers,” he added, “it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare.”
Times staff writer Justine McDaniel contributed to this report.
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