WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The Republicans’ midterm defeat is crushing any remaining hopes that Congress will approve President Donald Trump’s unprecedented $1.5 trillion military budget request amid an unpopular war on Iran. 
Democrats, who won solid majorities of both Chambers of Congress on Nov 3, were already largely opposed to the 44% increase from the previous fiscal year and are now signaling that they will block any efforts to push it forward. 
At the same time, Republican lawmakers returning to the lame-duck session before the new Congress is seated in January 2027 may not be able to muster the support or political will to ram through the massive defense spending package, especially amid the Pentagon’s unpopular war against Iran that cost many of them their jobs.
“We must push for the development of a more realistic and sustainable approach to our national security – one that does not require a military budget in excess of $1 trillion or one paid for with draconian cuts to critical domestic programs,” Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement after the election. 
The Democratic resistance risks imperiling some of Trump’s splashiest military ambitions, including the Golden Dome missile shield and his Trump-class battleship plan, and bodes poorly for defense contractors – some of which also face the prospect of congressional scrutiny over alleged conflicts of interest with the Trump administration.
Shares of major contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp and Northrop Grumman Corp, fell this week as the midterm results eroded expectations of a ramp-up in U.S. military spending.
Lawmakers returning to Washington on Nov 9 are going to have to grapple with the annual military policy Bill and a spending plan for fiscal year 2027 – which began on Oct 1 under stopgap funding that runs out on Dec 11.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries backed impeaching U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, saying he is a “hard yes” on a measure that may be introduced as soon as this week.
“The so-called Secretary of War has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,” Jeffries said on Nov 8 on ABC’s This Week.