Lawmakers want votes to check Trump's military actions in Iran

23/6/2025 6:09

Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Sunday called on

Congress to rein in President Donald Trump's use of military

force in Iran and prevent U.S. involvement in a deepening Middle

East conflict.



With Republican leaders in the Senate and House of

Representatives strongly backing the U.S. attacks on key Iranian

nuclear sites, it seemed unlikely any resolution that asserts

the power of Congress to declare war and restricts Trump's

actions could pass both chambers.



U.S. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said he

expects to force the Senate to vote this week on his measure

requiring Trump to terminate hostilities against Iran unless

explicitly authorized by a declaration of war from Congress.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and

Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California said they want

a vote on similar legislation they introduced in the House.



"This is the U.S. jumping into a war of choice at Donald

Trump's urging, without any compelling national security

interest for the United States to act in this way, particularly

without a debate and vote in Congress," Kaine told CBS' "Face

the Nation" program.



The White House did not respond to a request for comment on

the criticism from lawmakers.



House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John

Thune were both notified of the U.S. military action ahead of

time, according to sources familiar with the matter. Members of

Congress are expected to be briefed on Tuesday.



Thune's office declined to comment on Kaine's measure.



The attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities on Saturday divided

Trump's populist MAGA movement, with some leaders rallying

behind the president and others calling for an end to

hostilities after so-called U.S. "forever wars" in Iraq and

Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S.

soil.



"I represent part of the coalition that elected President

Trump. We were tired of endless wars," Massie told CBS. "We were

promised that we would put our veterans, our immigration

policies and our infrastructure first."



Massie and Kaine each said there was no urgency requiring

Trump to act unilaterally.



"There was no imminent threat to the United States," Massie

said. "We haven't been briefed."



Intelligence reports and analysts have reached different

conclusions on how close Iran was to building a nuclear bomb.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday

that the U.S. had intelligence that should Iran decide to do so,

it could build a nuclear weapon in weeks or months. U.S.

officials say they do not believe Iran had decided to make a

bomb.



Iran claims its nuclear ambitions are peaceful and focused

on energy production and medical research. But its program,

which began in the late 1950s with U.S. support, has fallen

under suspicion in recent years, with Tehran ramping up

enrichment to 60%, just below the weapons-grade of 90%, and

restricting the access of international inspectors to its sites.



Trump vowed on Sunday to support Massie's primary challenger

in the 2026 midterm elections, saying the Kentucky congressman's

criticism of the Iran attack and opposition to Trump's

legislative efforts proved he was not aligned with the party’s

new base.



"MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive

politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one," Trump

posted to Truth Social.







REPUBLICANS VOICE DIFFERING VIEWS



Another Trump loyalist, Representative Marjorie Taylor

Greene, also criticized Trump's decision on Sunday, but insisted

she was not being disloyal.



"I can also support President Trump and his great

administration on many of the great things they are doing while

disagreeing on bombing Iran and getting involved in a hot war

that Israel started," the Georgia Republican wrote on X.



Other Trump allies pushed back on claims that his actions

against Iran violated the U.S. Constitution and a federal law

that restricts unilateral action by a president to conditions

involving an attack on the United States.



"He had all the authority he needs under the Constitution.

They are wrong," said Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump

ally who has long been a leading voice on U.S. foreign policy

matters in Congress.



"If you don't like what the president does in terms of war,

you can cut off the funding," the South Carolina Republican told

NBC's "Meet the Press" program.



The attacks on Iran generally drew accolades from Republican

lawmakers who declared that the operation set back Iran's

ability to obtain a nuclear weapon.



"The President made the right call, and did what he needed

to do," Johnson said in a post on X late Saturday. "The

Commander-in-Chief evaluated that the imminent danger outweighed

the time it would take for Congress to act."



The U.S. Constitution divides war powers in the federal

government by making the president the commander-in-chief of the

armed forces but leaving sole authority to declare war to

Congress. The balance has shifted, with Congress relinquishing

the use of military power to presidents of both parties in

recent years.



But Democrats said it was too early to tell whether the

mission had succeeded, warning that Iran could have moved its

nuclear material to other sites far from U.S. targets.



"The tragedy in this country is that we keep entering these

overseas wars. We triumphantly declare the mission is

accomplished the day after, and then we're left with Americans

bearing the consequences for decades," Khanna told CBS.