House Democratic leadership will force a vote on legislation to rein in President Donald Trump’s use of military force against Iran, as his administration undergoes negotiations with the Middle Eastern country.
Democratic leadership’s push to vote on the war powers resolution to check the president comes as the United States is building up the largest force of warships and aircraft in the Middle East, and Trump warned that military action against Iran is possible if talks over its nuclear program collapse.
“As soon as Congress reconvenes next week, we will compel a vote of the full House of Representatives on the bipartisan Khanna-Massie War Powers resolution,” Democratic leadership wrote in a joint statement. “This legislation would require the president to come to Congress to make the case for using military force against Iran.”
“The Iranian regime is brutal and destabilizing, seen most recently in the killing of thousands of protestors,” they continued. “However, undertaking a war of choice in the Middle East, without a full understanding of all the attendant risks to our servicemembers and to escalation, is reckless. We maintain that any such action would be unconstitutional without consultation with and authorization from Congress.”
The resolution was introduced by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) earlier this year, and specified that the Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war, as Democrats have been calling for a de-escalation in the Middle East.
During Trump’s State of the Union address, he reiterated his “preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy” with Iran but affirmed that he will “never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.”
“We are in negotiations with them,” Trump said Tuesday. “They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
While Democratic leadership has put its weight behind this push, there is already some bipartisan pushback.
Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) announced last week that they will oppose the resolution when it comes to the floor.
“We stand with the Iranian people who are demanding basic rights and dignity, and we are committed to protecting them from the regime’s savagery,” the two wrote in a statement.
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“Congress should be briefed on any planned military action in compliance with the War Powers Act,” they later added. “It is also essential that the appropriate committees are fully and promptly briefed. Congress must not limit our ability to protect Americans and our allies.”
House GOP leadership narrowly avoided a war powers resolution on Venezuela from passing earlier this year in a 215 to 215 vote.
