A coming clash between Trump and Congress

A coming clash between Trump and Congress

President Trump is headed to a showdown with Democrats and members of his party after Election Day over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s future leadership of the Pentagon, the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Democrats are stepping up their demands that Trump fire Hegseth after the midterm elections and warning they won’t support funding increases for the Defense Department while the military conflict with Iran is ongoing.

Republicans are warning that Trump will have to push back on Russian President Vladimir Putin and make a stronger commitment to Ukraine if he is to get the Defense funding increases the Pentagon needs after eight months of conflict with Iran.

This sets the stage for a political battle over the Department of Defense (DOD) after Election Day, and some Senate aides warn that if Trump doesn’t give significant ground after Democrats pick up seats in Congress, it could trigger another government shutdown.

“There’s no world in which Democrats are funding the Iran war,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide. “I think Republicans are going to have to do some version of reconciliation if they want to fund the DOD.”

“I don’t know how it plays out if it’s not through reconciliation because I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many, if any, Democrats who are willing to fund it,” the aide added.

Democrats are ramping up pressure on Trump to fire Hegseth after the Nov. 3 election and threatening to impeach him in the next Congress if Trump doesn’t shake up the Pentagon’s leadership.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) is threatening that Democrats will push hard to oust Hegseth if they win control of the House in next week’s elections, as many political handicappers project.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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How policy will affect defense and national security now and in the future:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attempted to assuage Southeast Asian partners this week that the U.S. is dedicated to its allies in the Asia-Pacific region and pitched a defense framework to guide cooperation in the next few years during his trip to the Philippines. Hegseth said the Trump administration’s “strong, quiet and clear” approach to the Indo-Pacific means Washington is willing to defend its interests and the interests …

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Tuesday posted a video depicting a confrontation between U.S. and Cuban officials while he spoke at the podium of the U.N. General Assembly chamber. The video shows Cuban officials standing and speaking to Waltz, who can be heard saying one of them needs “to back away from this podium.” “He’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America …

The cost of the U.S.’s war against Iran has gone up to $47 billion, an increase of more than $3 billion since last month, as President Trump mulls launching strikes against the Islamic Republic after the U.S. midterm elections. The biggest chunk of the cost is munition replacement at $29 billion, according to an Oct. 16 U.S. Central Command (Centcom) estimate, which was shared with Congress and obtained by The Hill on Tuesday. …

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