Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Calls Trump’s Iran War a Historic Foreign Policy Fiasco as Gas Prices Soar

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has delivered a sweeping condemnation of President Donald Trump's war against Iran, accusing the administration of prolonging a costly conflict without an exit strategy while American families struggle with rising gasoline prices.

Speaking on the Senate floor on November 9, Schumer predicted that the war would rank among the greatest foreign policy failures in U.S. history. More than eight months into the conflict, he said, the administration still had no clear plan to end the fighting or bring American troops home.

Schumer also demanded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth face a Senate trial, accusing him of conducting the war without congressional authorization and violating constitutional limits on presidential war powers.

He further accused the Pentagon of concealing American military casualties and criticized Hegseth's leadership, arguing that the defense secretary should be removed from office.

In separate Senate remarks the same day, Schumer turned to the economic consequences of the war, saying Americans were paying $4.50 a gallon for gasoline while being told to accept the burden of a conflict they never wanted.

He argued that voters had delivered a clear message in the November midterm elections: end the Iran war, reverse Trump's tariffs, reduce health care costs and prohibit stock trading by members of Congress and the president.

Schumer pledged that Democrats would pursue those priorities with or without Republican cooperation.

His remarks followed major Democratic gains in the midterm elections, which will give the party control of Congress in January. Democrats have repeatedly sought congressional action to end U.S. military involvement in Iran, making the war a central issue in their confrontation with the Trump administration.