Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) defended President Donald Trump‘s authority to issue three strikes against Iran on Saturday to destroy their nuclear enrichment capacity.
Iran had stopped negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program in recent weeks. Saturday’s bombs were preceded by strikes from Israel, also attempting to destroy their nuclear sites. Trump confirmed that the three sites were completely destroyed by Saturday night. Mullin addressed critics of Trump’s decision while on Fox News’s Hannity later that night.
“AOC — and who really gives a flip what AOC is saying — and some others are talking about impeachment because we should come to Congress first. Under Article Two, it has been debated and had been put into court multiple times on what exactly the length of war powers have with the president having to come to Congress before he committed troops,” Mullin explained.
“We didn’t commit necessarily troops here but it goes on to say, according to court rulings, that if we are attacked, the commander in chief, not the president of the United States at the time, but now he becomes commander in chief, has the authority and the ability to protect Americans home and abroad if we feel threatened or attacked, including our assets,” Mullin said. “There is no question Iran threatened us, and there is no question they have attacked us. This is well within the president’s authority to do exactly what he’s doing.”
Mullin was referencing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) statement that the decision to strike without Congressional authorization was “a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.”
TRUMP SAYS US MILITARY ‘TOTALLY OBLITERATED’ IRAN’S NUCLEAR SITES IN WHITE HOUSE ADDRESS
“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) has also joined in the chorus calling for impeachment. Notably House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has steered clear from such language, but demanded a classified briefing on the matter from the president “immediately.”