Vice President JD Vance has blamed the war on Iran for the Republican Party’s sweeping defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of the United States Congress.
asserted
Democrats → blame → Congress
“The reason we lost is the war.
asserted
we → lose → ?
The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X on Wednesday.
asserted
Vance → say → Wednesday
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Will the US resume its attacks on Iran?
- list 2 of 4Trump blames Iran war for midterms losses
- list 3 of 4Giant banner of Trump, Vance and Netanyahu burnt at Tehran rally
- list 4 of 4Democrats won Congress.
asserted
list → resume → Congress
But can they deliver on their promises?
asserted
they → deliver → promises
Senator Ted Cruz, a longtime Iran hawk, also turned on the conflict, saying in an episode of his podcast on Wednesday that it “should have been brief, decisive, and over”.
asserted
it → turn → Wednesday
This week, President Donald Trump has insisted that he has no regrets.
asserted
he → insist → regrets
“I did the right thing.
asserted
I → do → thing
I would have done it again,” he told The Wall Street Journal about launching a war on Iran alongside Israel in February.
asserted
he → do → February
So, why are Trump’s allies breaking ranks, and what does it mean for the war?
asserted
it → break → war
Here’s what you need to know:
asserted
you → ’ → what
What have Trump’s allies said?
asserted
allies → say → What
Vance, a likely 2028 presidential candidate and heir apparent to Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, questioned whether the war had been worth the political cost.
asserted
war → make → movement
“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,” he wrote.
asserted
he → like → years
Citing an unnamed pollster, Vance said ending the Iran war and “changing our relationship with Israel” were two of the top four answers given ahead of this week’s midterms by Americans who voted for Trump in 2024 but planned to vote for Democrats this year.
asserted
who → cite → Democrats
Cruz’s criticism came from another direction.
asserted
criticism → come → direction
The war had “dragged on too long”, he said in a post on X, adding that Washington “should never, under any circumstances, give the Ayatollah billions of dollars”.
asserted
Washington → drag → dollars
He was apparently referring to the June memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran, which included a $300bn fund to help rebuild post-war Iran among several topics for discussion in wider peace talks.
asserted
which → refer → talks
The proposal for the fund triggered hefty pushback from conservative lawmakers, including Cruz, who said it amounted to a massive payout for the Iranian regime.
asserted
it → trigger → regime
The June agreement, which provided for a ceasefire at the time, quickly fell apart, however.
asserted
which → provide → time
Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that Vance’s assessment was “largely true”, blaming higher fuel prices, as a result of the war, for Americans turning against his party.
asserted
Americans → tell → party
But the president insisted the war was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
asserted
war → insist → weapon
Why are they distancing themselves?
asserted
they → distance → themselves
Republicans are positioning themselves for the 2028 presidential election, which Trump will not be able to run in, as he will have served the maximum of two terms as president.
asserted
he → position → president
Paul Musgrave, associate professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera there are “major internal divisions within the Republican Party” over the war.
asserted
Musgrave → tell → war
The US decision to attack Iran triggered a global fuel crisis with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has cost the US taxpayer an estimated $47bn so far.
asserted
which → attack → 47bn
This means candidates for 2028 likely need to distance themselves from the war if they have any hope of winning.
asserted
they → mean → hope
But Musgrave said hawks such as Cruz and the late Senator Lindsey Graham had, in fact, long pushed for a war on Iran.
asserted
hawks → say → Iran
Now that they have one, “it has been a disaster internationally and domestically for them”, he said, but “they can’t walk away”.
asserted
they → have → them
Instead, they are limited to criticising its length and execution.
asserted
they → limit → length
Vance, however, “is trying to represent a more isolationist wing of the Republican Party, and is willing to walk away from the war and probably other commitments to win favour with a large part of the Trump base”, Musgrave said.
“This is all about positioning for 2028 and the future of the Republican Party,” he said.
asserted
he → try → Party
John Feehery, a former Republican congressional staffer, told Al Jazeera the Iran war “was a big part” of the defeat, alongside energy prices, healthcare and corruption.
asserted
war → tell → prices
The race to succeed Trump has already begun, he said, pointing to Vance and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
asserted
he → succeed → Vance
What can Democrats do to make the most of this?
Limit the money available for continuing the war, and squeeze the people running it.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that “this war must end”, pointing to Congress’s control of funding.
asserted
war → make → funding
“The Founding Fathers had the power of the purse as one of the ways of deterring a president who does war without the consent of the American people,” he told a news conference in Washington, DC.
asserted
he → have → Washington
Congressman Ro Khanna proposed a continuing resolution “prohibiting the financing of any combat activities of the US military in Iran”, ending the war “like we did for Vietnam”.
asserted
we → propose → Vietnam
Musgrave said appropriations would be “a principal lever”, especially given “the havoc that has been wreaked with the defence budget by the spiralling expenses of the war in Iran”.
asserted
that → say → Iran
Feehery, meanwhile, noted that the defence budget and an extension of the debt limit would both need bipartisan support to pass.
asserted
budget → note → support
Official hearings and investigations, over which Democrats now wield a great deal more power by dominating both chambers of Congress, could also “make the war unpopular and harass or drive from office several key players”, Musgrave said.
uncertain
Musgrave → wield → players
Outgoing Republican Senator Thom Tillis told CBS News that Hegseth would face a “reckoning” for his part in the Iran war, while Democratic Representative Jason Crow labelled the defence chief as “incompetent and corrupt”.
asserted
Crow → tell → chief
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
