Democrats are preparing several routes to pressure President Donald Trump to end the eight month war with Iran before they take control of the House and Senate next year. Their immediate options include a Dec. 11 government funding deadline, a Dec. 31 military policy cutoff and a possible impeachment vote against War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The funding deadline may offer Democrats their strongest leverage. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told MS NOW that the party should pursue an all of the above approach while placing the greatest emphasis on Congress’ authority over federal spending.

“I think we deal with the funding and we use that to end the war,” Gallego said Thursday. “I think that’s the strongest thing we could do.”

Gallego also warned against allowing the conflict to continue unchecked. Drawing on what he personally witnessed in war, he said mounting deaths can create demands for retaliation and make it harder to withdraw from a conflict before it becomes even more dangerous.

Other prominent Democrats are also putting funding at the center of their strategy. One day after the midterm elections, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared, “This war must end. It must end.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told MS NOW that Democrats “will absolutely not fund Trump’s war of choice with Iran.” Yet cutting off money is only one part of the party’s emerging campaign.

The effort to remove Hegseth already gained momentum in September, when Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced articles of impeachment. House Republican leaders sent lawmakers home to campaign instead of remaining in Washington for a vote, but Massie wrote on X last week that he would reintroduce the articles unless Hegseth resigns.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during the campaign that Democrats would “run Pete Hegseth out of town” quickly after taking power. Asked Wednesday about oversight of Hegseth, Jeffries offered a pointed response: “Is Pete Hegseth still around?”

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., said Tuesday’s election results placed Hegseth directly in the spotlight. Ryan called the election a referendum on Trump’s war and said removing the War Secretary was his top priority because he had no faith in Hegseth to end the conflict.

Democrats are also continuing to pursue war powers resolutions demanding that Trump stop hostilities with Iran. Senators have forced 14 votes on such resolutions, including one successful vote that Trump ignored.

The Senate balance is expected to become more favorable to war opponents when new Democrats take office in January. Sens. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., voted against the September resolution, which failed 49 to 50, and both later lost their reelection bids.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, whose race had not been called, also cast a critical vote against that resolution. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would introduce a joint resolution to end the war on the first day of the next Congress.

Meeks said Democrats would also use hearings, legislation, oversight and the power of the purse to push the administration toward a diplomatic solution. But lawmakers recognize the limits of war powers resolutions after Trump disregarded a measure adopted by both chambers in June.

Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., argued that the next Congress must reclaim its constitutional authority over military action. “Presidents in both parties have abused the constitutional powers here,” Deluzio told MS NOW on Thursday. “The Congress should take it back. They should reassert the American people’s role in deciding when Americans go to fight.”

An anonymous House Democrat said Congress may need broader institutional changes to the War Powers Act and predicted an impeachment vote against Hegseth during the lame duck session. Democrats are also examining how a funding bill could legally compel Trump to end the war without creating loopholes or eliminating limited discretion for a naval blockade.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said Democrats can use spending authority, although they have not settled on specific language. He also challenged Vice President JD Vance to propose an exit after Vance appeared to distance himself from the war while analyzing Republican election losses.

“If he really means that, what is his plan to extricate us from the wreckage of the Iran war?” Raskin told MS NOW. “He should put it on the table.”