Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is leading an effort to restrict President Donald Trump’s ability to launch military action against Iran without congressional approval, but is finding little GOP support.
Kaine is making a final push to bring his newly introduced resolution to a vote as soon as next week. The measure would prohibit the president from continuing to use U.S. forces in hostilities, such as supporting Israeli airstrikes, unless Congress explicitly authorizes it. It would also mandate a debate and vote before any future military action is taken.
“I have maintained since I came to the Senate, under Democratic and Republican Presidents, we shouldn’t go to war without a vote of Congress. That’s what our troops deserve,” Kaine said this week. “They don’t deserve to have their lives put at risk when Congress doesn’t have the guts to have a debate and vote about war.”
The White House said on Thursday that Trump would decide in two weeks whether to join Israel‘s campaign to dismantle Iran‘s nuclear program. Speculation about imminent U.S. involvement in the conflict intensified after Trump unexpectedly left the G7 summit in Canada early Tuesday, returning to Washington for high-level talks with his national security team and issuing threats against Iran online.
The only Senate Republican on Capitol Hill who appeared visibly concerned about Trump’s apparent willingness to strike Iran was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), although he did not commit to supporting Kaine’s resolution.
“I’m hoping the President will not get involved with the war,” Paul said, speaking to reporters on Tuesday. “It shouldn’t happen [without constitutional authorization].”
Only one Republican in the House, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), has so far publicly backed a similar effort in the House. Massie introduced a companion measure with 15 House Democrats earlier this week.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) dismissed Kaine’s resolution as a symbolic gesture that “would never pass,” underscoring his belief that Republicans will prioritize loyalty to Trump.
“I’ll support whatever Trump does,” Tuberville said. “But, I’m hoping we don’t get involved.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he remained hopeful that Trump could use diplomatic channels to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Still, he said Tuesday that discussions about requiring congressional authorization for military action against Iran were, in his view, premature.
“I think the president is perfectly within his authority in the steps that he has taken,” Thune said, speaking to reporters. “Clearly, if this thing were to extend for some period of time, there could be a more fulsome discussion about what the role of Congress should be.”
With Republicans holding a 53-47 edge in the Senate, Kaine’s resolution would need the support of at least four GOP senators to succeed, assuming all Democrats and Independents who caucus with them vote in favor. However, it’s uncertain whether every Democrat will support Kaine’s resolution.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), a vocal advocate of Israel, said he doesn’t believe a U.S. strike on Iran under Trump would necessarily pull the country into a broader conflict.
“We’re just destroying their nuclear capabilities,” Fetterman told reporters this week. “I think that’s entirely appropriate.”
Kaine and other Senate Democrats drew parallels to the lead-up to the Iraq invasion under George W. Bush more than 20 years ago.
“Remember, the U.S. went into war once with Iraq under false claims about the state of Iraq’s nuclear program. The Intelligence Committee, including the intelligence community, including President Trump’s own National Intelligence Director, said that Iran had not made a decision to produce a nuclear weapon,” Kaine said.
While the administration is expected to brief Congress on the Israel-Iran crisis sometime early next week, Senate Democrats, specifically those on the Intelligence Committee, have expressed frustration over the delay.
“I’m a member of the Gang of Eight. We’re supposed to know. I have no foggy idea what this administration’s plans are or what the foreign policy is,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice chairman of the panel.
Back in 2020, eight Republicans joined Democrats in supporting a similar measure, following the U.S. strike that killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, an action that sparked widespread concern about the potential for war with Iran.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Congress approved broad military force authorizations, one in 2001 and another in 2002, for the Iraq invasion under President George W. Bush. Despite bipartisan criticism that these measures grant presidents excessive authority to initiate military action without congressional consent, they remain on the books. While the Senate voted in 2023 to revoke the 2001 and 2002 authorizations, the effort stalled in the House.
TRUMP TO GIVE HIMSELF TWO WEEKS TO DECIDE WHETHER TO STRIKE IRAN
At the time, current Vice President JD Vance, who was the junior senator from Ohio, voted for Kaine’s 2023 resolution repealing the 2002 authorization for the use of military force against Iraq.
“It’s a dilemma in the Constitution that I think will always crop up,” Kaine said. “But, Congress shouldn’t be afraid to fully occupy its powers to decide when the nation’s at war, we’ll be having this conversation for a long time.”