Republicans defended the president’s actions as constitutional under his authority as commander in chief and cited the War Powers Act.
The Senate voted against a resolution that would have required President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before taking further military action in Iran.
The measure was introduced by Senator Tim Kaine and was intended to limit the president’s authority to conduct military operations against Iran without authorization from Congress. The vote fell largely along party lines. Republican Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote in favor of the resolution, while Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it.
The debate comes as the Trump administration has defended its military campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, in a series of briefings with lawmakers. Democratic senators, however, argued that the Trump administration’s actions against Iran sidestepped Congress’ constitutional authority to authorize the use of military force.
“It’s time for the president to keep promises, not break them,” Kaine said before the vote. “That’s why I’m so glad that we’re going to put everybody on the record… Nobody gets to hide and give the president an easy pass or an end run around the Constitution.”
Democrats also took issue with the Trump administration’ss refusal to rule out US troops being sent to Iran. Senator Chris Murphy commented on the ongoing operation, saying, “This is going to make the operations in Libya look like child’s play.”
Republicans defended the president’s actions as constitutional under his authority as commander in chief and cited the War Powers Act, which gives the president the ability to deploy US forces without prior congressional authorization under certain circumstances. Many Republicans have pointed to how President Barack Obama used this authority during the 2011 military intervention in Libya, when he authorized airstrikes without explicit congressional approval for multiple months.
“We don’t need 535 commanders in chief,” said Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin.
US forces have struck over 2,000 targets in Iran, accoridng to Fox News. Six US service members have already been killed in the operation, and Trump indicated that more American casualties could occur.
