US Senate rejects bid to curb Trump’s Iran war powers
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The US Senate vote was 53 to 47 against a war powers resolution that would have required congressional approval for more hostilities against Iran.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – The Republican-led US Senate rejected a Democratic-led bid on June 27 to block President Donald Trump from using further military force against Iran, hours after the President said he would consider more bombing
The Senate vote was 53 to 47 against a war powers resolution that would have required congressional approval for more hostilities against Iran.
The vote was along party lines, except for Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who voted “no” with Republicans, and Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul, who voted “yes” with Democrats.
Senator Tim Kaine, chief sponsor of the resolution, has tried for years to wrest back Congress’ authority to declare war from both Republican and Democratic presidents.
Mr Kaine said his latest effort underscored that the US Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the sole power to declare war and requires that any hostility with Iran be explicitly authorised by a declaration of war or specific authorisation for the use of military force.
“If you think the President should have to come to Congress, whether you are for or against a war in Iran, you’ll support Senate Joint Resolution 59, you’ll support the Constitution that has stood the test of time,” he said in a speech before the vote.
Lawmakers have been pushing for more information about the US strikes on Iran and the fate of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
Earlier on June 27, Mr Trump sharply criticised Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.
He was reacting to Mr Khamenei’s first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel,
‘Obliterated’
Members of Mr Trump’s national security team held classified briefings on the strikes for the Senate and House of Representatives on June 26 and 27.
Many Democratic lawmakers left the briefings saying they had not been convinced that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “obliterated”, as Mr Trump announced shortly after the raid
Opponents of the resolution said the strike on Iran was a single, limited operation within Mr Trump’s rights as commander-in-chief and not the start of sustained hostilities.
Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as ambassador to Japan during Mr Trump’s first term, said the measure could prevent any president from acting quickly against a country that has been a long-term adversary.
“We must not shackle our president in the middle of a crisis when lives are on the line,” Mr Hagerty said before the vote.
Mr Trump has rejected any suggestion that damage to Iran’s nuclear programme was not as profound as he has said. Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production.
Under US law, Senate war powers resolutions are privileged, meaning that the Chamber had to promptly consider and vote on the measure, which Mr Kaine introduced in June.
But to be enacted, the resolution would have had to pass the Senate and the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson, a close Trump ally, said this week that he did not think it was the right time for such an effort.
During Mr Trump’s first term, in 2020, Mr Kaine introduced a similar resolution to rein in the Republican President’s ability to wage war against Iran.
That measure passed both the Senate and House of Representatives, with some Republican support, but did not garner enough votes to survive the president’s veto. REUTERS
