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Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Constraints on Trump's War Powers Rejected by Senate After Iran Strikes
Senators have rejected an effort to rein in President Donald Trump's war powers, voting down a resolution that would have blocked him from conducting future military strikes on Iran. Friday evening's 47-53 vote against advancing the resolution in the Senate capped off days of debate about the effectiveness of last weekend's U.S. military strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities and whether Iran can quickly reconstitute its nuclear program absent further U.S. military action. And it came hours after Trump told reporters he would "without question, absolutely" consider striking Iran again if U.S. intelligence concludes Tehran is still capable of enriching uranium to high levels. Read Next: New Army Shaving Policy Will Allow Soldiers with Skin Condition that Affects Mostly Black Men to Be Kicked Out The failure of the resolution, which lost some momentum after Trump announced a ceasefire in the conflict between Iran and Israel that the U.S. strikes were intervening in, adds to a post-Global War on Terrorism trend of Congress ceding its constitutional power to decide when to send U.S. troops into harm's way. The vote came a day after senators were briefed behind closed doors on the U.S. strikes. While the briefing provided little clarity on whether Iran's nuclear program is as destroyed as the Trump administration insists, Democrats maintained the session demonstrated the need for constraining Trump's ability to strike Iran again. "Anyone in that meeting -- anyone -- if they're being honest with themselves, their constituents, their colleagues, would know that we need to enforce the War Powers Act and force them to articulate an answer to some specific questions and a coherent strategy right away," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday. The resolution voted on by the Senate on Friday was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., one of the few voices left in Congress consistently arguing for the legislative branch to claw back its war powers. "War is too big an issue to leave to the moods and the whims and the daily vibes of any one person," Kaine said Friday on the Senate floor. Kaine's measure, known as a war powers resolution, would have barred Trump from conducting any further military action against Iran unless Congress specifically authorizes it. It relied on the 1973 War Powers Act, which gave Kaine the ability to force a vote despite the Senate being controlled by Republicans. He introduced a similar resolution in 2020, during Trump's first term, after Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iran retaliated with a missile attack in Iraq that injured more than 100 U.S. troops. Back then, Kaine's resolution passed both the Senate and the House, but was vetoed by Trump. At the time, eight Senate Republicans -- seven of whom are still serving now -- voted with every Democrat to support Kaine's resolution. This time, however, Republicans were more deferential to Trump. "When we're talking about nuclear weapons, the president should have the discretion he needs to act," Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., posted on social media Friday morning, announcing he planned to vote against Kaine's resolution. Cassidy was one of the Republicans who voted in favor of Kaine's 2020 resolution. Ultimately, just one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted with Democrats in support of the resolution Friday. One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted with Republicans against the resolution. Two war powers resolutions have also been introduced in the House -- one by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and the other by House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.; House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. While votes on war powers resolutions can technically be forced in the House like in the Senate, there are procedural mechanisms Republican leaders can use to prevent a vote, as they have with so-called privileged resolutions on other issues this year. House GOP leaders have offered full-throated endorsements of Trump's military action in Iran. "We delivered a major setback that resulted in a feeble, face-saving response from Iran," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Friday after the House's closed-door briefing on the strikes. Earlier in the week, Johnson also questioned the constitutionality of the War Powers Act. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., who was a physicist before entering Congress, told reporters after Friday's briefing that it is credible that centrifuges and other infrastructure at the facilities hit by U.S. strikes were "degraded substantially." But, he added, that damage is "irrelevant" if the strikes did not destroy Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which reportedly was moved prior to the strikes. "If we can somehow guarantee that we have secured or destroyed that material, the world would be a safer place," Foster said. "If that is not what has, in fact, been accomplished here, we are not safer." Related: Pentagon Presses Iran Strike Claims as Briefed Senators Point to Unknown Effects
Japan Times
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
U.S. Senate rejects bid to curb Trump's Iran war powers
The Republican-led U.S. Senate rejected a Democratic-led bid on Friday to block President Donald Trump from using further military force against Iran, hours after the president said he would consider more bombing. The Senate vote was 53 to 47 against a war powers resolution that would have required congressional approval for more hostilities against Iran. The vote was along party lines, except Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman voted no, with Republicans, and Kentucky Republican Rand Paul voted yes, with Democrats. Sen. Tim Kaine, chief sponsor of the resolution, has tried for years to wrest back Congress' authority to declare war from both Republican and Democratic presidents. Kaine said his latest effort underscored that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the sole power to declare war and requires that any hostility with Iran be explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for the use of military force. "If you think the president should have to come to Congress, whether you are for or against a war in Iran, you'll support Senate Joint Resolution 59, you'll support the Constitution that has stood the test of time," Kaine said in a speech before the vote. Lawmakers have been pushing for more information about weekend U.S. strikes on Iran, and the fate of Iran's stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. Earlier on Friday, Trump sharply criticized Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran, and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels. He was reacting to Khamenei's first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United States launched bombing raids against Iranian nuclear sites. Members of Trump's national security team held classified briefings on the strikes for the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday and Friday. Many Democratic lawmakers left the briefings saying they had not been convinced that Iran's nuclear facilities had been "obliterated," as Trump announced shortly after the raid. Opponents of the resolution said the strike on Iran was a single, limited operation within Trump's rights as commander-in-chief, not the start of sustained hostilities. Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as ambassador to Japan during Trump's first term, said the measure could prevent any president from acting quickly against a country that has been a long-term adversary. "We must not shackle our president in the middle of a crisis when lives are on the line," Hagerty said before the vote. Trump has rejected any suggestion that damage to Iran's nuclear program was not as profound as he has said. Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production. Under U.S. law, Senate war powers resolutions are privileged, meaning that the chamber had to promptly consider and vote on the measure, which Kaine introduced this month. But to be enacted, the resolution would have had to pass the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson, a close Trump ally, said this week he did not think it was the right time for such an effort. During Trump's first term, in 2020, Kaine introduced a similar resolution to rein in the Republican president's ability to wage war against Iran. That measure passed both the Senate and House of Representatives, with some Republican support, but did not garner enough votes to survive the president's veto.
Daily Mail
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Joe Rogan gives decisive take on MAGA civil war as Iran bombing continues to tear Trump's base apart
Joe Rogan backed Republican renegade Thomas Massie as he discussed the MAGA civil war taking place over Donald Trump's involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. The comedian and podcaster, who famously endorsed Trump in the lead-up to the election but has broken with him recently on ICE raids in Los Angeles, was discussing Massie's comments regarding the war with Bernie Sanders. 'People recognize that this guy should be allowed to have his own opinions and make some reasonable points and that people or going to reject this idea,' he said of Massie potentially drawing people against the effort in the Middle East. The libertarian had proposed a House resolution to check President Donald Trump's war powers, before pulling it following Trump's announcement of a ceasefire. However, Rogan still feels that Massie can have a large sway over the MAGA movement, who the comic says is against war. 'I think the whole MAGA thing right now is very divided, particularly because one of the things they voted for was no war,' Rogan said. 'Well now it seems like we're in a war. And it's quick. We're six months in and that's already popped off.' He added that he was concerned about American troops overseas and the idea of Iranian sleeper cells created due to Joe Biden's disastrous policy on the border. Democratic socialist Sanders praised Massie's efforts and said it 'bothers' him that Trump and many supporters suggesting the Kentucky Congressman face a primary for his views. The Kentucky Republican told reporters Monday night that he had agreed to pull his resolution, even after it sparked support from Congressional Democrats looking to score political points against the president. 'I talked to the Speaker on the floor just now and told him we wouldn't push it if the cease-fire holds, so it's really in their court,' Massie said, adding that he would 'wait and see' before making a final call. Massie's action drew praise from Trump's deputy chief of staff James Blair. 'Thank you for your attention to this matter,' Blair wrote, adding the siren emoji to highlight Massie's stunning U-turn. Massie was vocal about his opposition to U.S. military strikes of Iranian nuclear facilities in Iran, challenging the president for what he described as an 'unconstitutional' act to go to war without the authority of Congress. He previously boasted that his War Powers Resolution, that he launched with the support of Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California had 57 cosponsors. 'Whether you like it or not Congress will be voting on U.S. hostilities in Iran,' he wrote Monday afternoon on social media. Trump expressed his frustration with Massie, after the Kentucky Congressman went on television for several interviews where he criticized the president. 'GET THIS 'BUM' OUT OF OFFICE, ASAP!!!' Trump posted on social media. 'Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn't want him, doesn't know him, and doesn't respect him,' Trump also wrote. Massie repeatedly criticized the president, especially after Trump floated the prospect of regime change in Iran. 'This is not America First folks,' he wrote. I will not vote for the United States to get dragged into another regime change war. In fact, I will actively oppose it.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also took on Massie during a Fox News segment on Monday. 'He should be a Democrat because he is more aligned with them than with the Republican Party,' she said. She also pushed back on Massie's claim that Trump's action was unconstitutional. 'The White House was not obligated to call anyone because the president was acting within his legal authority under Article 2 of the Constitution, as commander-in-chief of the president of the United States,' Leavitt concluded. On Sunday, Trump additionally criticized Massie for grandstanding on television after the successful military strikes on Iran. 'He's a simple minded 'grandstander' who thinks it's good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling 'DEATH TO AMERICA' at every chance they get,' Trump wrote on social media, describing him as 'weak' and 'ineffective' and 'disrespectful to our great military.' 'MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!' Trump concluded. Massie responded to Trump on his own social media account. 'Donald Trump declared so much War on me today it should require an Act of Congress,' the congressman wrote with the hashtag #sassywithmassie.
South China Morning Post
22-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Democrats lash out at ‘erratic' Trump over Iran strikes, demand vote to rein in war powers
Democrats bristled on Sunday over US President Donald Trump's decision to launch air strikes on Iran without seeking authorisation from Congress, accusing the Republican of violating the constitution and demanding a vote to rein in his war powers. Advertisement Members of the Senate and House of Representatives argued that US intelligence had not shown an imminent threat from the Middle Eastern country that justified Trump's unilateral action. 'President Trump's actions in bombing Iran puts the US on the brink of a wider war in the Middle East, all without constitutionally required Congressional approval,' Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin said in a statement. Democrats were divided between those demanding a vote on a war powers resolution to constrain Trump's authority to launch further action and a smaller group, who maintained that the strikes were grounds for the Republican leader's impeachment. They included Illinois moderate Sean Casten and New York leftist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who accused the president of having 'impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations'. Advertisement Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House respectively, said Trump had 'dramatically increased' America's risk of becoming embroiled in a new Middle Eastern conflagration. 'No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy,' Schumer said.
Fox News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'Instincts for restraint': Senate divided over who gets to declare war
Lawmakers are debating what role Congress should play as the White House weighs its options in Iran. Does the legislative body have sole power to declare war, or should that power be ceded to the president? The back and forth comes as President Donald Trump mulls whether to join Israel in its campaign against Iran or continue pushing for a diplomatic end and return to the negotiating table to hammer out a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. Helping to ignite the arguments on Capitol Hill are a pair of resolutions in the Senate and House that would require debate and a vote before any force is used against Iran. The measures are designed to put a check on Trump's power and reaffirm Congress' constitutional authority. Senators on both sides of the aisle are divided on whether they believe they have sole authority to authorize a strike against Iran or if Trump can do so on his own volition. A predominant argument is that the entire point of supporting Israel is to prevent the Islamic Republic from creating or acquiring a nuclear weapon. Israel has been successful in taking out a few pieces of infrastructure that were key to that mission but has yet to do real damage to the highly-fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and would likely need help from the U.S. to crack through the layers of rock shielding the site. "The Constitution says the prerogative to declare war, the power to declare war, is solely from the Congress," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, told Fox News Digital. "It can't originate from the White House. There is no constitutional authority for the president to bomb anyone without asking permission first." The Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the White House, giving lawmakers the sole power to declare war, while the president acts as the commander in chief directing the military. Then came the War Powers Act of 1973, which sought to further define those roles and ensure that the president has to give Congress notice within 48 hours of the deployment of troops who can only be deployed for 60 days. Notably, Congress has not formally declared war since World War II. "There's really no argument for why he couldn't obey the Constitution," Paul said. "Now, my hope is that he won't do it, his instincts for restraint would prevail." Fox News reached out to the White House for comment. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., disagreed with Paul and said he believed Trump had the ability to authorize a strike but acknowledged it was "mixed" and "clouded" when factoring in the War Powers Act. "It's clear that both Congress and the president have a role to play," he said. "But if you're suggesting, should the president come to Congress first making that decision, it's conditioned upon what year you want Congress to make a decision. Sometimes it takes us months, even years, to get nothing done." Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters he believed Trump was "perfectly in his right to do what he's done so far" and reiterated that the ultimate goal was to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Senate Republicans have found an unlikely ally among Democrats in Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has vehemently advocated for Israel while his party has wavered. Fetterman told Fox News Digital he did not believe a strike on Iran was "starting a war," echoing Thune's sentiment that "we have a very specific mission to destroy the nuclear facilities. That's not a war. That is a necessary military … exercise to destroy a nuclear facility." And Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital "it's never been ruled" whether the War Powers Act was constitutional, but he noted that the act still gave the president the authority to act as commander in chief. "I think it's pretty much an irrelevant point if President Trump decides to aid Israel with some military action with those bunker-busting bombs," Johnson said. "It's well within the timeframe of him coming under some kind of congressional action." Still, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who introduced his war powers resolution Monday, believed the measure was gaining momentum among his colleagues. Kaine told Fox News Digital that, as events have developed, it made the "urgency" of his resolution more apparent. He also expected it would get a vote in the Senate sometime next week. He argued that some Republicans would "very much want to be in the middle of hostilities with Iran." "But the interesting thing is, they've never introduced a war authorization because their constituents would say, 'Are you nuts?'" he said. "And, so, they would like the president to do it, but they wouldn't want to do it themselves." When asked if that was a move to shift blame elsewhere, Kaine said, "They think it will, but it won't."
