(The Guardian) Democrats demand immediate vote in Congress to limit Trump's war on Iran
Top Democrats demanded over the weekend for an immediate vote in Congress on whether to restrain president Donald Trump’s military action against Iran.
The House and Senate were already expected to hold votes this week but Trump’s decision to launch attacks on Iran has increased the urgency of lawmakers to try to reassert their powers.
It comes as Israel and the US launched fresh waves of intensive attacks across Iran as part of their joint campaign to overthrow the country’s government, which has plunged the Middle East into a new regional conflict with no certain timeline or outcome.
The heated rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran suggests a further escalation in the coming hours and days.
New York representative Gregory W Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would “get on the next plane flying” to vote against the war.
Meanwhile, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries both called for urgent action to restrain Trump’s attacks on Iran. The Democrats’ strategy of forcing votes on war power resolutions have been portrayed as a way for Congress to reclaim its constitutional powers to declare war but have, so far, all failed.
As Republicans celebrated the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with praise for Donald Trump’s decisive action, Democrats faced their own divisions and a reckoning over how to present a united front.
Most were quick to condemn the US president for sidelining Congress to launch an illegal and unconstitutional war and demanded a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain his military onslaught.
But some in the party also felt obliged to acknowledge the authoritarian Khamenei’s death as a positive development and demonstrate their support for US troops. A small band of centrist Democrats have even threatened to scupper a war powers resolution if it comes to the floor.
“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” tweeted John Fetterman, a Democratic senator for Pennsylvania and staunch supporter of Israel, declaring himself a “hard no” on a war powers vote and posting an image of the ayatollah with the provocative statement: “Let’s see who grieves for that garbage.”
Democratic leaders were outspoken during the massive US military buildup in the Middle East, decrying his unwillingness to engage with Congress and lack of long-term strategy for Iran. They noted that it was Trump, during his first term, who shredded Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.
Top Democrats demanded over the weekend for an immediate vote in Congress on whether to restrain president Donald Trump’s military action against Iran.
The House and Senate were already expected to hold votes this week but Trump’s decision to launch attacks on Iran has increased the urgency of lawmakers to try to reassert their powers.
It comes as Israel and the US launched fresh waves of intensive attacks across Iran as part of their joint campaign to overthrow the country’s government, which has plunged the Middle East into a new regional conflict with no certain timeline or outcome.
The heated rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran suggests a further escalation in the coming hours and days.
New York representative Gregory W Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would “get on the next plane flying” to vote against the war.
Meanwhile, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries both called for urgent action to restrain Trump’s attacks on Iran. The Democrats’ strategy of forcing votes on war power resolutions have been portrayed as a way for Congress to reclaim its constitutional powers to declare war but have, so far, all failed.
As Republicans celebrated the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with praise for Donald Trump’s decisive action, Democrats faced their own divisions and a reckoning over how to present a united front.
Most were quick to condemn the US president for sidelining Congress to launch an illegal and unconstitutional war and demanded a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain his military onslaught.
But some in the party also felt obliged to acknowledge the authoritarian Khamenei’s death as a positive development and demonstrate their support for US troops. A small band of centrist Democrats have even threatened to scupper a war powers resolution if it comes to the floor.
“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” tweeted John Fetterman, a Democratic senator for Pennsylvania and staunch supporter of Israel, declaring himself a “hard no” on a war powers vote and posting an image of the ayatollah with the provocative statement: “Let’s see who grieves for that garbage.”
Democratic leaders were outspoken during the massive US military buildup in the Middle East, decrying his unwillingness to engage with Congress and lack of long-term strategy for Iran. They noted that it was Trump, during his first term, who shredded Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.
