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Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., announced plans to introduce a measure which would restrict President Donald Trump’s from joining Israel’s conflict with Iran without receiving congressional approval as the conflict between the two countries continued to intensify.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, is pushing a bipartisan resolution to limit Trump's ability to go to war ... More
Massie wrote in a post on X on Monday evwrote, “This is not our war…But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”
The Republican from Kentucky said he is “introducing a bipartisan War Powers Resolution” before the House on Tuesday to “prohibit our involvement” in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Khanna reshared Massie’s post on X, saying, “I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan War Powers Resolution with Rep. Massie that is privileged and must receive a vote.”
“No war in Iran,” the Democratic lawmaker said as he urged every House member to go on record on the matter and added: “Are you with the neocons who led us into Iraq or do you stand with the American people?”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, R-N.Y., also responded to Massie’s post, saying she was “Signing on.”
Earlier on Monday, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., had also tweeted that: “The U.S. should not join a war against Iran, and I will ask the Senate to stop such a reckless idea.” Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, shared a text of his resolution with a statement saying: “It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States…The American people have no interest in sending servicemembers to fight another forever war in the Middle East.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., commented on a New York Times report about Trump weighing the option of entering the Israel-Iran conflict: “The President does not have the authority to make this decision. There is no imminent threat to America from Iran. He cannot take this action without congressional authorization.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Va., announced he had introduced legislation on Monday night to “stop Trump from leading us into an illegal war with Iran.”
The Iran war issue has also triggered fissures among Trump supporters. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast and accused his former network of “turning up the propaganda hose to full blast” and pushing its viewers to back a war against Iran. The former Fox host then warned: “A full-scale war with Iran, would end…Trump's presidency effectively end it.” The president took a shot at Carlson in a Truth Social post on Monday, saying: “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’” When asked about Carlson’s remarks at the G7 Summit, Trump told reporters: “I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in the House, also appeared to back Carlson, tweeting: “Tucker Carlson is one of my favorite people…He unapologetically believes the same things I do…And foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction. That’s not kooky.” In the past few days, Greene has opposed U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict.
Trump Says Reason For Early G7 Summit Departure ‘Much Bigger’ Than Iran-Israel Ceasefire (Forbes)
Trump’s Iran Choice: Last-Chance Diplomacy or a Bunker-Busting Bomb (New York Times)