The U.S.-Israel military offensive against Iran — which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials — is stoking a heated fight on Capitol Hill over who has the power to take the country to war.
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, most of his fellow Democrats and a handful of Republicans are pushing for a vote on war powers this week. Their argument is that President Trump went too far by launching the operation without congressional approval.
Republicans, for the most part, are backing the president. They point to the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which they say gives Mr. Trump up to 60 days to act before needing Congress’ sign-off.
But Mr. Kaine isn’t buying it. He says Republicans are ignoring the fact that the Constitution outranks any statute. He has lined up a vote on a war powers resolution this week, giving his colleagues the chance to reassert Congress’ constitutional authority.
“This is an illegal war,” Mr. Kaine, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The Constitution says no declaration of war without Congress. The president has called this a war against Iran.”
He added that while a president can act without congressional approval to defend against an imminent attack, starting a war is a different matter entirely — and Mr. Trump didn’t notify most lawmakers before proceeding.
SEE ALSO: Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton says GOP voters back Trump decision to strike Iran
Sen. Dave McCormick, Pennsylvania Republican, said Mr. Trump’s actions are “completely within his constitutional authority” and cast Democrats as hypocrites.
“When President [Barack] Obama took military action in Libya, the very same argument was made by President Obama,” Mr. McCormick said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Some of those same Democrats that are now saying President Trump is acting out of line were supportive of the Libya operation.”
Mr. McCormick also pushed back against the notion that Iran resumed uranium enrichment only after Mr. Trump withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — in 2018.
“It’s almost laughable,” he said. “This is all political theater.”
Mr. McCormick echoed the view of most Republicans in arguing that Iran posed an immediate and serious threat, saying the Islamic republic has killed “thousands of Americans” and regularly used ballistic missiles against U.S. forces in the Middle East and Israel.
“So this is absolutely justified, and this is an imminent threat to Americans around the region and around the world,” he said.
SEE ALSO: Sen. John Fetterman stands with Trump after strike on Iran, breaks with fellow Democrats
Mr. Kaine disagreed, saying Iran posed no “imminent threat.” Intelligence suggests Iran would not have missiles capable of reaching the United States for at least a decade, he said.
He also questioned what happened to Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to stay out of foreign wars.
“He said he would be a president of peace, not war,” Mr. Kaine said. “The right answer now is for the president to do what he told the American public.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.