Trump, weighing new Iran strikes, faces a divided party and a ticking clock
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- A Republican lawmaker from Kentucky, Thomas Massie, plans to present impeachment articles against Hegseth.
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asserted
lawmaker → weigh → Hegseth
U.S. supplies of critical munitions remain a top Pentagon concern after eight months of conflict.
asserted
supplies → remain → conflict
Just days ago, a resumption of war with Iran appeared inevitable, regardless of the outcome of the midterm elections.
asserted
resumption → appear → elections
U.S. diplomats urged their Arab counterparts to prepare for an intense period of fighting.
asserted
diplomats → urge → 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.
uncertain
officials → order → 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.
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war → force → Tehran
The U.S. carried out limited strikes on Iran on Friday, and a renewal of all-out attacks remains a distinct possibility, the officials said.
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officials → carry → attacks
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.
uncertain
Democrats → oust → Congress
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.
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lawmaker → plan → Republicans
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.
uncertain
he → maintain → 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.
uncertain
Hegseth → face → 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.
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combat → orchestrate → fiercest
Democratic upsets in this year’s midterms could reshape the electoral map, and the fight for the White House in 2028.
U.S. supplies of critical munitions also remain a top Pentagon concern after eight months of conflict, and renewed fighting would further strain stockpiles.
uncertain
fighting → reshape → 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.
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campaign → tell → leadership
“The reason we lost is the war.
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we → lose → ?
The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote on social media the day after the election.
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Vance → say → 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.
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losing → like → years
Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay.
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it → argue → ?
Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.
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that → agree → ?
“But everyone knows why we lost,” he added, “and any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
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we → know → ?
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.
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he → respond → fight
“I think it’s largely true,” Trump said, “because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term.
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it → think → gasoline
But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again.
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I → have → it
Because long term, it’s the only answer.
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it → ’ → ?
You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.
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Iran → let → weapon
“The Iran thing, we had to do,” Trump continued, “and we continue to do it.”
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we → 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.
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Congress → choose → Jan.
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.
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administration → take → conflict
And a split Republican Party will give them a substantial boost in votes to demand a new direction in the war effort.
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Party → give → 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.
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Wolfson → go → 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.”
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Democrats → imagine → war
In recent months, the conflict with Iran has settled into a war of attrition.
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conflict → settle → 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.
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Tehran → continue → Hormuz
No ceasefire or peace agreement is in place, and negotiations remain stalled.
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negotiations → stall → place
Opposition to artificial intelligence data centers was part of midterm races across the U.S., with campaigns featuring them in hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of TV ads and many winners pledging to clamp down on the energy-hungry behemoths.
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Opposition → feature → behemoths
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.
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Congress → poise → funding
“When we get back together, we are going to be able to discuss precisely that question,” Raskin said.
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Raskin → get → question
“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.”
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we → tell → mistake
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.
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obsession → push → 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.
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he → ’ → War
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
