Congressional Democrats will, once again, try to rein in President Donald Trump’s war with Iran this week — and this time, they believe there’s a pathway to success.
Top Democrats in both the House and Senate say they will force votes this week on war powers resolutions aimed at cutting off hostilities in Iran. They only need a handful of Republicans to join them to constrain the president over the conflict, though Democrats would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers if Trump vetoed a war powers resolution — which he almost certainly would do.
In that practical sense, Democrats face long odds. But on a political level, the GOP is increasingly tying its midterm fate to a conflict growing more unpopular every week.
“Every day that Republicans stand in the way of Democratic efforts to end this war,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Thursday, “is another day that they own the chaos, the bloodshed and the economic volatility that has resulted.”
It’s been six weeks since Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu launched the initial attacks on the Islamic Republic, and despite Trump’s early claims that the conflict would be over in four to six weeks, there’s still no clear end in sight.
Already, 13 members of the U.S. military have been killed, and hundreds more have been wounded. And while dozens of top Iranian leaders have been killed, the regime remains in charge. Despite Trump saying on Sunday that the U.S. will blockade the Strait of Hormuz, Iran still maintains operational control of the passage, resulting in average gas prices domestically shooting up more than a dollar a gallon, according to AAA.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York — the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — told MS NOW he is working to make sure this week’s vote is not merely a show vote. He wants Democrats in lockstep, and he wants to make sure he can line up the Republicans he needs.
“It doesn’t make sense, in my estimation, just to do something so that you guys can report that there was a vote and the vote was defeated and then move on,” Meeks told MS NOW
“I’m getting closer and closer. I just need a few more Republicans, of which I’m working very hard on,” he said.
He declined to say which Republicans he’s targeting.
If Democrats aren’t successful this week, the dynamics could still change by the end of the month.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 dictates that, 60 days after the president first reports to Congress of hostilities, the use of armed forces is automatically terminated unless Congress has officially passed legislation authorizing military force — making April 29 a consequential date on Capitol Hill.
One House GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics, told MS NOW that come April 29 “a lot of Republicans” would be ready to support a war powers resolution.
“This issue is already coming ripe at the end of this month, and if they don’t come to us by then they’re in violation of the law,” the House Republican said. “And that’s when you’ll see many of us saying no más.”
The lawmaker said they were “undecided slash a lean no” on the war powers resolution this week, but a “hard yes” come April 29.
Still, Democrats believe they’re within striking distance.
At least two of the four Democrats who previously opposed the resolution say they now plan to vote “yes” when it comes back to the floor for a vote.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas — who in March expressed concerns with “abruptly restricting military operations risks undermining operational realities” — wrote in a statement that because the administration hasn’t laid out a clear strategy in Iran, he will now support the legislation.
“But strength requires strategy. It requires clarity of purpose and a defined path forward,” Cuellar wrote. “That’s why I continue to ask the administration for answers about our objectives, our long-term goals and, most importantly, a clear exit strategy. So far, those answers have not been sufficient.”
Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, who was also supportive of the initial strikes, voted against the war powers resolution last month because it required the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iran, which he opposed. Instead, he and a group of Democrats — including Cuellar — spearheaded a different war powers resolution that allowed a 30-day window.
But with the conflict still unfolding, Landsman told MS NOW he is now prepared to support a war powers resolution.
“Since we’re past 30 days, I will support any war powers resolution,” Landsman told MS NOW. “This should have only taken a few weeks. And the only reason it has gone on longer is because of Trump’s recklessness — how cavalier and unserious he has been.”
Republican Rep.-elect Clay Fuller, who won a special election in Georgia last week to succeed former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is expected to be sworn in early next week, giving Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a little more breathing room as he seeks to defeat the war powers resolution.
Once Fuller is sworn in, Republicans will be able to afford two defections — up from one — and still pass party-line legislation, assuming full attendance.
Recommended
On the Senate side, Republicans have rejected three separate Iran war powers resolutions over the past month, with just Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voting with Democrats and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., voting with the GOP.
It remains to be seen whether other Republicans could break and join with Democrats — especially in light of the president’s recent threats to wipe out a “whole civilization.” Because the measure is privileged, only a simple majority is required.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, for instance criticized the president’s comment, writing in a post that it “cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran.”
“It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home,” she wrote.
In Maine on Thursday, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Trump’s Easter Truth Social post — which threatened to wipe out Iran’s power plants and bridges unless Tehran would “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards” — was “completely inappropriate.”
“And the subsequent post in which he threatened to essentially annihilate the whole country of Iran is also not conducive to the negotiations that will shortly be underway,” she added.
Earlier this year, a handful of Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to rein in the president’s war authority on a different conflict before backing off.
In response to the U.S. raid and capture of President Nicolas Maduro, a war powers resolution garnered the support of five Senate Republicans. Two later flipped against the measure, amid an intense lobbying effort from the White House — killing the legislation.
With the president’s veto hanging over any potential war powers resolution, it’s virtually certain that this measure will fail. But the vote will force a discussion about the president’s strategy and Congress’ role as a check on the administration.
Republicans thus far have refused to constrain Trump on Iran, but even if these votes fail this week, there will be other opportunities for lawmakers to have some say.
Congress is currently awaiting an official request from the administration for supplemental Pentagon funding, and that fight could be politically fraught for Republicans.
Initially estimated at around $200 billion, recent reporting from The Washington Post suggests it could be half that. While Republicans may try to use reconciliation to pass that funding with solely GOP votes, there are early signs that not all Republicans would support the supplemental.
Democrats, meanwhile, are publicly toying with other potential avenues to hold the president accountable for the war — though these would likely be longer-term efforts, reserved until Democrats control the House.
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., told reporters last week that Trump is, in her view, guilty of a “litany” of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Speaking about Trump’s Iran threats, Dean said: “If that’s not high crimes and misdemeanors, and if it’s not madness, I don’t know what is.”
But she also cautioned that, because Democrats are in the minority, “I don’t think it is a best use of our time.”
House Democratic Leader Jeffries of New York told MS NOW last week that impeachment over his ending a civilization threat remains on the table.
“We’ve said we’ve ruled nothing out and we’ve ruled nothing in,” he said. “But we’re going to deal with what’s in front of us.”
Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.