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Before the White House announced that Donald Trump plans announce some kind of decision on Iran in “two weeks” (it’s always “two weeks” with this president), plenty of members of Congress had weighed in with their own positions on the burgeoning crisis. The most striking responses have come from those who appear to have forgotten their responsibilities.
Take Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, for example.
Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo asked the GOP senator a straightforward question, “How would you like to see the U.S. respond” to the intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran?
“Well, this will be entirely up to the president, Maria,” Ernst replied. After arguing that Iran “poses a threat” to both the United States and its allies, the Iowa Republican added, “One way or another, it must stop. That is up to the president of the United States. Whatever that call is that is made by President Donald Trump, I will be supportive of.”
At first blush, rhetoric like this might sound predictable and unremarkable. Ernst is a longtime Trump loyalist, so it stands to reason she’d express her blind support for the president’s ultimate decision, no matter what that might be.
But stepping back, it’s not quite that simple.
For now, we won’t dwell on the fact that Trump has demonstrated tragically flawed judgment in practically every policy area — on top of his general indifference to evidence and reason — making it difficult to understand why anyone would simply assume that he’ll make a responsible call on a life-or-death issue.
Just as notable, however, is that in this situation, Ernst isn’t just another White House ally or conservative media cheerleader. She’s a sitting U.S. senator with more than a decade of experience on Capitol Hill, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, among other things.
As she really ought to understand, the idea that it’s “entirely” up to the president to decide whether the U.S. launches a military offensive against a foreign adversary is tragically flawed.
Fortunately, this attitude is not universally shared among her colleagues. Indeed, The Washington Post reported, “Senate Democrats are increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump is considering striking Iran without seeking authorization from Congress — or even filling them in on his plans.”
With this in mind, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia this week introduced a war powers resolution designed to limit the use of the U.S. armed forces against Iran without congressional approval.
“I am deeply concerned that the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict,” the Virginia Democrat said in a written statement. “This resolution will ensure that if we decide to place our nation’s men and women in uniform into harm’s way, we will have a debate and vote on it in Congress.”
A vote on Kaine’s privileged resolution could come within the next week, or halfway through the president’s two-week timeline.
As Time magazine reported, Kaine isn’t alone: “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also introduced a separate bill, cosponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), on Monday that would prohibit the use of federal funds for ‘any use of military force in or against Iran’ without congressional approval, with the exception of self-defense.”
We can probably safely guess how Ernst would vote on these measures, but they serve as a timely reminder: Congress has a role to play in these decisions. For any member to say, effectively, “Trump probably has all of this under control” isn’t just bizarre, given everything we know about the president, it also reflects an abdication of lawmakers’ responsibilities.