Washington, Nov 5 (IANS) Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna has urged Democrats to prohibit funding for US military combat activities in Iran through a short-term government spending measure, arguing that opposition to the war helped drive Republican losses in the midterm elections.
The California Democrat also called for eliminating aid to Israel in the same spending measure, setting out demands for his party following Tuesday’s vote.
“Support a continuing resolution prohibiting the financing of any combat activities of the U.S. military in Iran. End the Iran war like we did for Vietnam,” Khanna wrote on X.
He separately urged Democrats to “Support the zeroing out of all aid to Israel in the continuing resolution.”
Khanna presented the proposals in a post responding to Vice President JD Vance’s discussion of the election results. He argued that the Iran war and allegations of corruption had contributed to the Republican defeat.
His post outlined a political demand for restrictions in a spending measure. It did not provide legislative language specifying when a prohibition would take effect, which funds it would cover or whether it would contain exceptions.
Khanna’s intervention linked his opposition to overseas military spending with a broader push for public investment, healthcare and economic reforms.
In a separate opinion article published by MS NOW, he urged Democrats to pursue an economic programme modelled on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Khanna argued that the election offered an opportunity to address the cost of essentials, economic inequality and communities left behind by industrial change. Those arguments represented his assessment of the result and his proposed direction for the party.
He called for a National Industrial Bank to invest in sectors including semiconductors, rare earth minerals, advanced manufacturing, medical innovation, shipbuilding and artificial intelligence.
He also proposed bringing together the leaders of major businesses and technology companies to support investment in schools, jobs, apprenticeships and entrepreneurs in communities affected by deindustrialisation.
A proposed Work for America programme, modelled on the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, would offer young people opportunities in community rebuilding, care services, technology projects and training, he wrote.
Khanna’s domestic agenda also included Medicare for All, free public college, expanded trade schools and measures intended to make housing more affordable.
He said he was working on legislation to offer zero-down-payment, low-interest home loans to qualifying people who had worked and paid rent for seven years.
To finance his proposals, Khanna pointed to a federal tax on billionaires that he said he had sponsored with Senator Bernie Sanders. He argued that reducing spending on weapons and wars should also form part of the party’s fiscal approach.
–IANS
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