The House and the Senate return to work next week with revived interest in holding a vote on whether to authorize the use of U.S. military force in the Middle East.
The Defense Department announced Friday it would deploy an additional 3,500 troops to the region after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force and a terrorist who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American service personnel.
The Trump administration deployed the troops in preparation for a potential escalation of aggression in the region.
But a growing number of lawmakers want to vote on any new U.S. military action in the Middle East.
“It is my view that the president does not have the authority for a war with Iran,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Friday. “If he plans a large increase in troops and potential hostility over a longer time, the administration will require congressional approval and the approval of the American people.”
The United States is sending the extra troops to the Middle East to respond to increased tensions resulting from the drone strike, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned “severe revenge awaits the criminals” who killed Soleimani. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has warned U.S. strikes against Iran inside Iraq will cause “a dangerous escalation that will light the fuse of a destructive war in Iraq, the region and the world.”
Lawmakers warned Friday the escalation of conflict in the region would require even more U.S. involvement and more troops but that Trump is not authorized to get the U.S. military involved in a full-scale conflict.
“The president’s action may become the spark that could trigger another war in the Middle East,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Friday. “And let us here in Congress make very clear that President Trump has no authority to take America to war against Iran.”
The Maryland Democrat said Trump is obligated to seek congressional authorization first.
“And Congress has not given that authorization,” Van Hollen said.
Congress regularly debates whether to pass a measure to require the president to seek new authorization for the use of military force in the Middle East, known as an AUMF.
Congress last approved an AUMF in 2002 when President George W. Bush sought the authority to go to war in Iraq.
Presidents since then have conducted military operations to combat terrorism in the Middle East under the 2002 AUMF, as well as a 2001 AUMF authorizing the war in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Democrats and some Republicans believe the two AUMFs are outdated and do not authorize the use of U.S. military in the Middle East, where thousands of troops have been stationed.
In June, House Democrats passed a measure to repeal the 2001 AUMF by inserting the provision in a massive spending bill.
The vote lacked any Republican support and never cleared the GOP-led Senate.
There is a bipartisan appetite to limit the president’s current authorization to use military force.
The House in July passed two amendments to a defense authorization bill that would require the president to seek congressional authorization for spending on a war with Iran and to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The provisions had strong bipartisan support but were scrapped during final negotiations.
Congress last year passed a bipartisan war powers resolution that would have required Trump to seek House and Senate approval for any U.S. involvement in “hostilities.” The vote was aimed at ending U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen.
Trump vetoed the bill.
A Republican supporter of the legislation, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, appeared to question the president’s authority in his statement following the strike on Soleimani.
“The death of Qasem Soleimani is a big victory for the safety of the American people,” Lee said in a statement. “As always, I am anxious to learn about the legal justification for this action and look forward to being briefed by the Pentagon and the White House.”
Trump on Friday insisted the drone strike was aimed at preventing U.S. deaths at the hands of Soleimani, who was plotting new attacks in the region.
“We took action last night to stop a war,” Trump said. “We did not take action to start a war.”
Liberal Democrats are pushing Congress to reintroduce the anti-war measures that failed to clear Congress last year.
“Congress now has a moral and legal obligation to reassert its power to stop this war and protect innocent people from horrific consequences,” freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said Friday.
