Washington (AP) – Democratic efforts in the Senate to prevent President Donald Trump from degening himself more with Iran failed on Friday, the Republicans blocking a resolution that marked the first attempted congress to reaffirm his war powers after American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
The resolution, written by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginie, aimed to say that Trump should seek Congress authorization Before launching more Military action against Iran. Asked on Friday if he would bomb Iranian nuclear sites again if he considered it necessary, Trump said: “Of course, without a doubt.”
The measure was beaten during a 53-47 vote in the Renue Républicaine Senate. A democrat, senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, joined the Republicans in the opposition, while Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only republican to vote in favor.
Most Republicans said Iran had represented an imminent threat that required Trump’s decisive action, and they have made its decision to bomb Three Iranian nuclear sites Last weekend without requesting the approval of the congress.
“Of course, we can debate the scope and strategy of our military commitments,” said senator Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn. “But we must not chain our president in the middle of a crisis when lives are at stake.”
The Democrats questioned this justification, arguing that the president should have come to Congress first. They also declared that the president had not updated them correctly, with the first briefings of the congress on Thursday.
“The idea is as follows: we should not send our sons and our daughters at war unless there is a political consensus on the fact that it is a good idea, it is a national interest,” said Kaine in an interview Thursday with the Associated Press. The resolution, said Kaine, did not aim to restrict the president’s ability to defend himself against a threat, but that “if it is an offense, we really ensure that we make the right decision”.
In a statement following Friday’s vote, Kaine said he was “disappointed that many of my colleagues are not willing to get up and say that the congress” should be part of a decision to go to war.
The argument of Democrats to support the resolution was focused on resolving war powers, was adopted in the early 1970s, which demanded that the president “in all possible cases” “to consult the congress before introducing the American forces”.
Speaking on the Senate’s soil before Friday vote, Paul said that he would support resolution, saying that “despite the tactical success of our strikes, they could end up being a strategic failure”.
“It is not clear if this intervention will fully reduce the nuclear aspirations of Iran,” said Paul.
Trump is only the last of a line of presidents to test the limits of the resolution – although he did it at a time when he is often bristling by the country’s checks and balances.
Trump sent a letter to Congress on Monday – as required by the resolution of war powers – which indicates that Iran strikes during the weekend have been “limited in the scope and objective” and “designed to minimize victims, dissuade future attacks and limit the risk of climbing”.
But after classified briefings with senior officials of the White House this week, some legislators remain skeptical about how the threat was imminent.
“There was no imminent threat to the United States,” said representative Jim Himes, the best democrat of the Chamber’s intelligence committee after Friday’s classified briefings.
“There is always an Iranian threat to the world. But, I have not seen anything suggest that the threat of the Iranians was radically different from last Saturday to two Saturdays,” said Himes.
Despite democratic skepticism, almost all Republicans have applauded Trump’s decision to hit Iran. And for the GOP senators, the support of the resolution would have meant to reprimand the president at the same time as they work to adopt his main legislative set.
Kaine proposed a Similar resolution In 2020, aimed at limiting Trump’s authority to launch military operations against Iran. Among the eight Republicans who joined the Democrats to approve the resolution was the senator of Indiana Todd Young.
After the briefing classified Thursday for the Senate, Young said that it was “convinced that Iran was ready to constitute a significant threat” and that, given Trump’s declared objective of no longer climbing, “I do not think that this resolution is necessary at the moment.”
“If the change of posture or the events of the administration dictates the consideration of an additional American military action, the congress should be consulted so that we can better support these efforts and weigh on behalf of our voters,” Young said in a press release.
Trump said that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran was now in place. But he and the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have verbally launched in recent days, with the warning of Ayatollah The United States Do not launch future strikes on Iran.
The White House officials said they Expect to restart the talks Soon with Iran, although nothing has been planned.
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The journalist of Associated Press Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.
