It’s not that they hate America and love its enemies, you see. Really, really, it’s not. It’s just that Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez love the U.S. Constitution so much that they’re worried that President Donald Trump’s strikes on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran might have exceeded the powers of the president as delineated in the nation’s founding document. That’s all. They just love America, you see. It’s not that they wanted the Islamic Republic to get nukes and destroy the state of Israel, oh, no. What gave you that idea?
The new strict constructionists were out in force after the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) wrote: “The strikes on Iran, ordered by President Trump and executed without congressional authorization, mark a dangerous and reckless escalation of an already volatile conflict in the Middle East.”
It’s easy to see why that could worry her, as a widening conflict in the Middle East could all too easily spread to the country Omar really cares about: Somalia. In June 2024, former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Khaire, while standing next to a beaming Omar, said: “The interest of Ilhan are not Ilhan’s, it’s not the interest of Minnesota, nor is it the interest of the American people, the interest of Ilhan is that of the Somali people and Somalia. The success of Ilhan is the success of Somalia.” Omar herself has said: “I am here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system.”
Nonetheless, now she is worried that Trump struck Iran without congressional authorization. So is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Would You Like An Olive?), who wrote: “The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.” Another ardent originalist, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Ramallah), agreed: “President Trump sending U.S. troops to bomb Iran without the consent of Congress is a blatant violation of our Constitution.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Victimhood) added: “This is a violation of the Constitution that is risking innocent lives. We do not need another deadly, endless war. Congress must act immediately to rein in Trump.” The chorus continued with this from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Orange Man Bad): “The authority to declare war belongs solely to Congress. Trump’s unconstitutional and escalatory strikes risk drawing US troops and the American people—who are overwhelmingly opposed—into another forever war. Congress must immediately exercise our duty to restrain this President.”
Yet another newly-minted Constitutionalist, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Race Hate) said: “Here is yet another reminder that the Constitution is not optional… Congress must authorize military force before any president—including Trump—launches a strike.”
All these august solons are decrying the fact that the strikes were “executed without congressional authorization,” but there are plenty of precedents for that from Obama and Biden, and authorization in the War Powers Resolution:
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying American troops if a formal declaration of war has not already been declared. The resolution also requires that the president withdraw any forces deployed in a conflict within 60 days if Congress has not formally declared war.
The law was intended as a constriction of presidents’ authority to start a war. Yet, in practice it has done the opposite. Rather than using military action simply to respond to an imminent attack, presidents have read the statute as a license to act for 60 days without congressional approval.
If Obama or Biden had carried out the strikes against Iran, which, of course, they would never, ever have done, Omar, Tlaib, AOC, Pressley and the rest would be lining up to applaud him. The real problem here is that it was Trump who acted, and so of course all these furiously partisan socialists will oppose whatever he does. Secondarily, they really aren’t pleased that Trump has acted decisively to remove a nuclear threat to the United States. In their world view, it is Amerikkka that is responsible for the evils of the world. The fact that they are Amerikka’s elected representatives is of little moment. They’ve made it abundantly clear that they would still like to see the whole country engulfed in flames. Trump has set that project back. Thus they hate him all the more.