In their final week before the summer recess, House Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson passed a $95bn budget blueprint for the war with Iran, avoiding the word 'war' and instead calling it 'baseline battlefield readiness,' according to budget writer Jodey Arrington. The plan includes funding for 'bullets and bombs to finish the job and come home safely and victoriously,' as well as measures to strengthen food supply and election integrity.
The move comes three months before the November midterm elections, amid sticky inflation, signs of a Democratic resurgence, and poor approval ratings for both the war with Iran and Donald Trump's presidency.
Democratic Pushback and Senate Hurdles
Shortly after the vote, four dissident Republicans joined Democrats to pass a symbolic war powers resolution that would mandate Trump withdraw troops from combat against Iran. Democratic Representative Jason Crow said: 'You’re about to have hundreds of members of Congress go home to their constituents, and a lot of folks are about to get crushed, rightfully so, by their constituents. They’re going to hear that people are losing healthcare, they’re losing their homes, they’re losing their farms, they’re losing their small businesses. And why the hell are you supporting $100bn for another endless war in Iran that’s not making us safer?'
Senate Majority Leader John Thune put the budget blueprint on 'hold,' raising the likelihood that the question of how much to spend on the Iran conflict will remain undecided beyond the September 30 government funding deadline. The House also passed the annual Pentagon budget, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but Johnson complicated its prospects by merging it with the Save America Act, which would ban mail-in ballots and impose new voter ID requirements. Democrats objected to the $1.15tn cost and have halted the Senate version in protest of renewed hostilities with Iran.
Republican Optimism and Internal Criticism
Despite the setbacks, House Republicans believe they have a credible case for retaining the majority. National Republican Congressional Committee chair Richard Hudson said: 'Joe Biden and the Democrats are the ones that ran this country into the ditch, and we’re on a rescue mission to save it. And we passed some really good policies that are actually working, and so we got a great story to tell to the voters.' He added that Democrats would need to win many Trump seats to take the majority, which he said 'is just not going to happen.'
South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman predicted that Trump 'is at the cusp of ending this thing with Iran, and he’s doing the right thing. The American people’s opinion is to end it quick. I think he will do that.' Nebraska Representative Don Bacon, one of the few Republicans in a district won by Kamala Harris two years ago, offered muted criticism: 'The go-it-alone approach fails us in the end. But we need their help,' he said of Democrats, 'and so I think he should lean in to working across the aisle more.'
Democratic Challenges and Primary Debates
However large the problems of House Republicans may be, Democrats face their own difficulties. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that while highly motivated voters are eager to back Democrats, they have only a scant advantage over the GOP in the wider electorate. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: 'I think a lot of people aren’t sure, depending on where you’re from, what it means to be a Democrat.' She saw hope in the party's primary process, which has featured further showdowns between centrist and leftwing candidates and debates over the US relationship with Israel. 'That’s part of why this primary process has been so active this year, because we’re having much deeper substantive conversations,' she said.
