Friday, November 13, 2026 Vol. I · No. 23 · Afternoon Edition Print size
Election 2026 494 of 505 races called See the results → The GOP Files Receipts on the Republican-run Washington · Sourced · Dated · On the record On Instagram 5.6M plays and counting @thegopfiles →
The Wire
Navy quietly fired submarine and destroyer leaders, Democrats say Congress was not told Miller memo requires White House staff to get counsel's approval before meeting lobbyists DOJ memo tells federal agencies to put English first and cut other languages On tape: Trump's Jan. 6 pardons told ICE it was beyond the law, Rep. Al Green says on the House floor Garcia calls Blanche's warning a threat; DOJ chief cites Constitution Bessent says Treasury wanted Megaspeed blacklisted, but 'Commerce has the pen' Postal Service to raise package prices Jan. 17 after $6.5 billion loss Trump's Medicare agency extends freeze on new hospices and home health agencies to May IRS raises 401(k) limit to $25,500 for 2027, with $11,750 catch-up for ages 60 to 63 On tape: Cory Booker tells Kash Patel a federal judge vowed to toss subpoenas for reporters' phone records Navy quietly fired submarine and destroyer leaders, Democrats say Congress was not told Miller memo requires White House staff to get counsel's approval before meeting lobbyists DOJ memo tells federal agencies to put English first and cut other languages On tape: Trump's Jan. 6 pardons told ICE it was beyond the law, Rep. Al Green says on the House floor Garcia calls Blanche's warning a threat; DOJ chief cites Constitution Bessent says Treasury wanted Megaspeed blacklisted, but 'Commerce has the pen' Postal Service to raise package prices Jan. 17 after $6.5 billion loss Trump's Medicare agency extends freeze on new hospices and home health agencies to May IRS raises 401(k) limit to $25,500 for 2027, with $11,750 catch-up for ages 60 to 63 On tape: Cory Booker tells Kash Patel a federal judge vowed to toss subpoenas for reporters' phone records

Congress Watch · Report · File No. 261113-556

GOP Sen. Kennedy tells Vance to 'put down the crack pipe' over Iran war loss claim

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana rejected Vice President JD Vance's claim that the Iran war cost Republicans the midterms. It is a public split inside the GOP over why the party lost the Senate.

By the Capitol Desk · · 2 min read

Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work

My clippings
John Kennedy (Louisiana politician)
John Kennedy (Louisiana politician). Photo: Daniel Rios, Public domain

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, publicly rebuked Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, Nov. 12. Vance had blamed the Iran war for his party's midterm defeat. Kennedy spoke in an interview with host Kasie Hunt on CNN's "The Arena" 1.

Kennedy told Vance to "put down the crack pipe," and said the causes of the loss run deeper than the war 2. He said: "I don't think the vice president did himself any favors" 2.

put down the crack pipe
John Kennedy, U.S. senator, R-La.2

What Vance said

The day after the Nov. 3 election, Vance posted on social media: "The reason we lost is the war" 3. He challenged the war's defenders to argue that "losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it" 3.

The war began in February and was still going when polls closed on Nov. 3. It had also disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route 5. Democrats won control of the Senate and a large House majority 5.

From Channel GOPAds called Vivek a murderer, used the President's familyJD Vance · 178 plays · captioned, with the source named

Kennedy's answer

Kennedy said, "This loss was not because of Iran" 2. He allowed that the war may have played some part 1.

He pointed instead to the economy. He said Democrats "did a better job" of acknowledging Americans' economic pain 2. He also said the economy now belongs to President Donald Trump 2.

Kennedy said he will seek re-election to the Senate in two years. He would not say whether he might seek the Republican presidential nomination 1.

Trump and Democrats weigh in

Trump partly agreed with Vance when the post came out. He said Vance's view was largely true because the war drove up gas prices, but he defended going to war 4. Reporters at the time said he described Vance's post as fine 5.

Democrats have attacked Vance's turn. Rosemary Boeglin, communications director of the Democratic National Committee, said "Vance started this deadly, costly war with Trump" 4.

Vance started this deadly, costly war with Trump
Rosemary Boeglin, communications director, Democratic National Committee4

What happens next

No vote is scheduled on the war because of this exchange. The fight is over what Republicans should say and do before Democrats take over Congress in January. Kennedy's remarks show that Senate Republicans do not agree on the lesson of the loss.

That matters because the two explanations point to different next steps. Vance's view puts pressure on the party to distance itself from the war. Kennedy's view puts the focus on prices and the cost of living, which hit older Americans on fixed incomes hard.

The Record

  1. Midterm election day; the Iran war, which began in February, was still ongoing when polls closed 5.
  2. Vance posts "The reason we lost is the war"; Trump calls it "largely true" because of gas prices 34.
  3. Sen. John Kennedy tells CNN Vance should "put down the crack pipe" and says the loss "was not because of Iran" 12.
Republish this story on your site or in your newsletter

Any site, blog or newsletter may run this story free of charge. Keep the credit line and its link to the original, do not sell it, and edit only for length or house style (the full terms). Photos carry their own licenses, noted under each photo on this page, so use the text alone unless a credit says otherwise.

Paste it into your editor's HTML view. The one-pixel image at the end tells our newsroom the story ran; it stores no reader data.

Sources

  1. HuffPost, “GOP Senator Delivers Blunt Reality Check To Vance After Midterm Beatdown” (2026-11-12). huffpost.com/entry/john-kennedy-jd-vance-iran-war-midterm-lo
  2. The Daily Beast, “Republican Senator Lobs Jaw-Dropping Insult at Vance” (2026-11-12). thedailybeast.com/republican-senator-lobs-jaw-dropping-insul
  3. The Washington Post via Anchorage Daily News, “Vance breaks sharply with Trump, blames midterm losses on handling of Iran war” (2026-11-04). adn.com/nation-world/2026/11/04/vance-breaks-sharply-with-tr
  4. The National News Desk via WSTM, “Vance says Iran war cost GOP the midterms; Trump says he would have done nothing different” (2026-11-04). cnycentral.com/news/nation-world/vance-says-iran-war-cost-go
  5. Daily Montanan, “Vance and Trump blame midterm GOP elections loss on their war in Iran” (2026-11-04). dailymontanan.com/2026/11/04/repub/vance-and-trump-blame-mid

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.

More from the files

Delivered free to your door*

The Morning Edition

One short email at 7 a.m. Eastern: the day's top files, one clip worth your time, and the race to watch. Plain English, large type, no clutter.

*Your inbox. Free. Unsubscribe with one click, any time.