As Trump flirts with war in Iran, Congress looks to assert its power
Benhamin Weiss
WASHINGTON (CN) — Members of Congress on Tuesday unveiled a resolution aimed at reining in the Donald Trump administration’s power to commit U.S. forces to a military conflict against Iran and asserting their power over declarations of war.
The rare display of bipartisanship comes as the president convenes with his national security team to weigh Washington’s options for responding to the expanding conflict between the Islamic Republic and Israel, which this week began bombing Iranian military sites and nuclear enrichment facilities.
Sponsored by Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, and California Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, the proposed resolution would direct the White House to “terminate” the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless given specific authorization by Congress.
The Constitution gives Congress sole power to issue declarations of war and other authorizations of military force. Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president has authority to commit troops to foreign conflicts for no more than 60 days — but the White House must notify Congress within 48 hours of such action, and lawmakers can demand that the president remove military forces activated under that law.
So far, the Trump administration has yet to announce military action against Iran, and the Pentagon has denied any involvement in Israel’s ongoing strikes. Still, members of Congress have posed Tuesday’s resolution as an effort to affirm their role as a check on the president’s power over the military.
“This is not our war,” Massie wrote in a post on X. “Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”
The proposed resolution has already attracted support from other lawmakers. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal and Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar are cosponsoring the measure alongside a handful of other Democrats.
Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan, also a Democrat, voiced his own support for the resolution on Tuesday.
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump ally, was an early critic of any U.S. intervention in Iran, though she has yet to say publicly whether she would support Massie’s resolution.
“Everyone I know is tired of U.S. intervention and regime change in foreign countries,” she posted on X last week. “Everyone I know wants us to fix our own problems here at home. Not bomb other countries that have nothing to do with our own self-inflicted problems.”
Greene later accused Republicans who support military action in Iran of being “fake.”
“Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA,” she wrote on Sunday.
Regardless of whether the White House decides to intervene in Iran, Trump himself appears to be setting the stage for the possibility. In a Monday post on his social media platform Truth Social, the president argued that Iran could not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, adding that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.”
“AMERICA FIRST mean many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” he said in a separate post.
Trump also issued a direct threat against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, writing in a post Tuesday morning that the U.S. knew where he was “hiding” and that he was an easy target. “We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” the president added. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.”
Vice President JD Vance also left the door open for American intervention in Iran, writing in a lengthy post on Tuesday that Trump “may decide he needs to take further action” to stop the country from enriching weapons-grade uranium.
Vance acknowledged concerns about foreign entanglements but argued that the president has “earned some trust” on the issue.
“And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals,” said the vice president. “Whatever he does, that is his focus.”
Trump, meanwhile, dismissed assessments from his own intelligence community about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, brushing off questions about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s March testimony during which she told Congress that Tehran was “not building a nuclear weapon.”
“I don’t care what she said,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that he thought Iran was “very close” to having a nuclear weapon.
Since Israel carried out its first strikes on Iran last week, the two countries have traded blows in a conflict that has so far lasted five days and threatens to break out into a larger war. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 200 people so far — and roughly two dozen Israelis have died in Iranian missile attacks.
Israel, which has long railed against the Islamic Republic acquiring nuclear weapons, has said that its strikes have successfully set back Iran’s nuclear program and that it has established air superiority over the country.
The U.S. has also long opposed the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran. Under former President Obama, the White House negotiated a deal with Tehran that would have seen its nuclear program restricted to civilian use in exchange for sanctions relief. The first Donald Trump administration, however, withdrew from the agreement.