A resolution that would have blocked President Donald Trump from further military intervention in Iran narrowly failed Friday evening in the U.S. Senate. Led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Senate Joint Resolution 59 asserted the War Powers Act of 1973 requires Trump to first obtain permission from Congress before any further military action against Iran.
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Kaine told lawmakers from the Senate floor that his career “obsession” in the Senate has been keeping the United States out of unnecessary wars.
“I do know that, even today, the president said that he would certainly bomb Iran again,” Kaine said. “I’m hoping that the members of this body will stand up for the Constitution, will stand up for the proposition that war is too big to be decided by one person.”
Several Democrats, as well as independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, spoke up in favor of the measure.
“War has awful and unintended consequences,” Sanders said. “It should only be considered as a last resort.”
A couple of Republicans supported the resolution, giving the GOP its narrow majority.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., gave a brief history lesson on how the Founding Fathers, despite their political differences, largely agreed that the power to send the country to war should rest in the collective hands of Congress, and how previous administrations had taken unilateral action at the expense of American lives.
“Our own country sadly experienced this during Vietnam. The needless tragedy of that war, in which 58,000 Americans paid the ultimate sacrifice, led Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution we debate today,” said Paul. “Congress intended to ensure a president would never again unilaterally plunge the American people into war without the people’s representatives in Congress debating the issue.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, two lawmakers with reputations for bucking their parties, proved to be two of the decisive votes against Kaine’s bill.
“I’m going to vote ‘no’ on that simply because I would never want to restrict any future president, Republican or Democrat, to do this kind of military exercise that was very successful,” Fetterman, a staunch ally of Israel, told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.
Collins said in a statement on June 27 that she could not support the resolution when threats of nuclear proliferation are at stake.
“I supported the President’s targeted strike on Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities because a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unacceptable threat to America and our allies. I also applaud the current ceasefire,” Collins said. “Given this backdrop, it is the wrong time to consider this resolution and to risk inadvertently sending a message to Iran that the President cannot swiftly defend Americans at home and abroad.”
The final vote tally was 53-47, short of the 51 votes necessary to keep it alive.
Iran strikes
After a surprise attack from Israel on June 13 led to days of bombings between it and Iran, Trump on June 21 deployed B-2 bombers from a base in Missouri to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities. The bombers left Iranian airspace by the time the president announced the strike.
Initial intelligence reporting that leaked indicated that the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, known as “bunker busters,” didn’t reach the Fordo nuclear facility that’s buried deep underground near Tehran. Further intelligence reports indicated “extensive damage” corroborated by Iranian officials, but Trump’s comments about the “obliteration” of the Iranian nuclear program remain unconfirmed outside of the administration.
What is the War Powers Act?
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 aims to split responsibility for military action between the president and Congress.
One provision requires the president to submit a letter to congressional leaders within 48 hours of a military action. It needs to explain the scope and reasoning behind the strike.
Trump sent the letter on June 23 to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
“The strike was taken to advance vital United States national interests, and in collective self-defense of our ally, Israel, by eliminating Iran’s nuclear program,” Trump said, noting that the strike was limited in scope and purpose.
Trump sent a similar letter to Congress regarding his strikes on Houthi rebels in March.
Other presidents’ unilateral actions
Unilateral strikes like Trump’s bombing order extend across the political aisle. Former President Barack Obama in 2011 approved airstrikes against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Obama’s administration pushed NATO for a resolution authorizing military intervention in Libya before the strikes began that March. Gaddafi was pushing back against an uprising that was part of the “Arab Spring” movement that swept across the Middle East.
Former President Bill Clinton in 1999 conducted a series of bombing runs in Yugoslavia without congressional approval.
