Washington — The Senate is voting Wednesday on whether to block President Trump from using further military force against Iran, amid shifting messaging from the administration about the strikes and warnings about more American casualties to come.
It’s the second time in less than a year that Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia has forced a vote on a war powers resolution related to Iran. The upper chamber voted down a similar effort in June, after the U.S. bombed three locations central to Iran’s nuclear program.
Kaine’s resolution, which is cosponsored by Republican Rep. Rand Paul of Kentucky, would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.”
Though the war powers vote was expected ahead of the strikes on Iran over the weekend, the massive military operation that began Saturday upped the stakes of the vote — and added to the urgency.
“They have shifting goals, different goals all the time, different answers every day. And I am truly worried about mission creep,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Tuesday.
With a 53-seat Republican majority, the resolution appears poised to fall short of the simple majority needed to advance the measure. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has pledged to vote against the resolution, meaning it would need the support of at least four other Republicans in addition to Paul.
In a statement ahead of the vote Wednesday, one of the Republicans who had been seen as a possible supporter indicated that he would vote against the war powers resolution, though he encouraged Congress to take on a greater oversight role.
“The United States and our allies are now in conflict with a brutal, hostile, and dangerous regime,” GOP Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said. “I believe that danger will only grow if we limit the President’s military options at this critical moment.”
In June, the Iran war powers resolution received support from most Democrats and Paul, while Fetterman voted with most Republicans against it.
Even if both chambers were to approve the resolution, the outcome would be largely symbolic, since the president could simply veto it. Democrats would require two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate to override his veto.
In a call with reporters Sunday, Kaine acknowledged that the renewed effort is unlikely to go anywhere, but said it’s important that members of Congress be put on the record about the war with Iran.
“If you don’t have the guts to vote yes or no on a war vote, how dare you send our sons and daughters into war where they risk their lives,” Kaine said.
Mr. Trump said Monday the operation in Iran was projected to last four to five weeks, but the U.S. has the “capability to go far longer than that.” But Mr. Trump also said the operation was “substantially ahead of our time projections.” He also has not ruled out putting boots on the ground.
Democrats walked away from a classified briefing with Trump administration officials on Tuesday unsatisfied with what they heard.
“They told us in there that this is an open-ended operation that hasn’t even really started in earnest yet,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. “There will be more Americans killed. They refuse to take off the table, the insertion of ground troops.”
“There clearly was no imminent threat,” added Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
A CBS News poll found that most Americans disapprove of the war with Iran, and think the Trump administration has not clearly explained its goals. About half of Americans believe the war could last months or years.
Asked Monday about whether the military operation needs congressional authorization, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said the Trump’s administration’s actions are “consistent with what previous administrations have done” in prior conflicts. Thune added at a news conference Tuesday that “the president was perfectly within his rights to take the steps that he took.”
The Constitution grants Congress the authority to declare war. In response to the Vietnam War, Congress passed the 1973 War Powers Resolution as a check on the president’s power to enter armed conflict without consent from the legislative branch. The law requires the president to consult with Congress in “every possible instance” ahead of the introduction of any military forces and to report to Congress within 48 hours of deploying forces if Congress hasn’t authorized a declaration of war, and caps any unauthorized engagement at 60 days.
“No presidential administration has ever accepted the War Powers Act as constitutional — not Republican presidents, not Democratic presidents,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Monday. “All that said, we complied with the law 100%, and we’re going to continue to comply with it.”
In a notification to Congress on Monday, Mr. Trump cited “repeated efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to Iran’s malign behavior,” but said “the threat to the United States and its allies and partners became untenable.”
Mr. Trump added that “it is not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary.”
Kaine said he could continue forcing votes on the issue in the coming weeks, adding that some of his Senate colleagues who initially vote against the resolution could flip their votes as the situation with Iran develops.
He noted that several Republicans eventually helped advance a war powers resolution related to Venezuela earlier this year, shortly after the U.S. military captured former President Nicolás Maduro, over concerns about the potential for U.S. troops to be deployed there and Mr. Trump’s comments about running Venezuela. The effort, however, stalled after the Trump administration put pressure on several of the holdouts to flip their votes.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who once supported limiting the president’s ability to strike Venezuela, said he believes the Trump administration is in compliance with the law on Iran and intends to vote against the war powers resolution.
“My view has always been, ground troops will require congressional authorization,” Hawley said Tuesday.
Last year’s efforts to curtail involvement in Iran also fizzled out after it was clear the U.S. involvement in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel was limited, and a ceasefire was reached.
The Senate vote comes ahead of a vote expected in the House on a similar resolution later this week.
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