OPINION:
In January 2020, when President Trump ordered the strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, Democrats thundered in outrage. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “provocative and disproportionate.” Sens. Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders introduced measures to restrict Mr. Trump’s authority and cut off funding. The Constitution, they said, gives Congress — not the president — the power to declare war.
Now it’s 2025. Following Mr. Trump’s ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, Democrats have once again erupted. Lawmakers like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries immediately condemned the actions. Some, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have floated impeachment. Sen. Tim Kaine revived his War Powers resolution.
But where was all this outrage when President Joe Biden, just months earlier, ordered repeated strikes in Syria, Iraq and Yemen? He did so without new congressional approval, citing legal justifications that Democrats had rejected under Mr. Trump. There were no protests then. No rush to reassert congressional war powers. Just silence.
What changed? Not the law. Not the region. Only the occupant of the Oval Office.
If limits on executive power are serious, they must apply no matter who is in charge. Otherwise, it’s not about principle, it’s about politics. And that is exactly how constitutional limits erode.
ANDREW LOGAN LAWRENCE
Savannah, Georgia
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