Democrats are demanding an immediate vote in the US Congress over military action launched by Donald Trump against Iran, accusing the president of usurping the legislative branch’s power to declare war.
Trump announced the “massive and ongoing operation” in an eight-minute video, posted on social media at 2.30am (Washington time), promising to raze the country’s missile industry and annihilate its navy. He also called on the people of Iran to overthrow the Islamic regime in Tehran.
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” he said. “For many years you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight.”
US officials have suggested this wave of strikes could last four to five days, which is in line with what an Israeli intelligence official told The Financial Times last week, although if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is killed and the regime is brought down, it could end sooner.
Trump used the term “war” in his video, saying American casualties were always possible in war, but it was a “noble mission”.
The scope of the strikes and the president’s broad goal of toppling the Islamic Republic prompted Democrats to demand a vote in Congress over the military campaign, arguing that under the US Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, only Congress can declare war.
Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, said Iran was a bad actor and must be restrained, but in the absence of exigent circumstances, Trump must seek congressional authorisation for pre-emptive use of military force that constitutes an act of war.
“The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately,” he said, and “provide an ironclad justification for this act of war”.
He also noted that if Iran’s nuclear facilities were “completely and totally obliterated” last year, as Trump claimed, “there should be no need to strike them now”.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called and briefed senior members of Congress prior to the strikes. She said he called all eight members of the so-called Gang of Eight, and reached seven of them.
‘The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the consequences of his actions’.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“The president and his national security team will continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the day,” Leavitt said on Saturday morning (US time).
The Gang of Eight – which comprises the top Democrats and Republicans in Congress and on the intelligence committee – was also briefed in person by Rubio about Iran earlier in the week.
Democrats are calling for a vote this week on a bipartisan resolution that would specifically require Trump to seek congressional approval for any further activity against Iran.
Critics of the War Powers Resolution argue it is obsolete and does not effectively deal with modern military campaigns – chiefly, limited airstrikes – that fall short of a full conventional war.
They also say seeking congressional approval for such strikes would reveal the impending action to the enemy, removing the element of surprise and severely undermining its efficacy.
Rahm Emanuel, who was White House chief-of-staff to Democratic president Barack Obama, and is a potential contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028, told CNN this was a case where congressional approval was required.
“When you call for regime change, it is not a military action – it is a war,” he said. “It’s a change of government and overthrowing a government … This is not a limited military action.”
Trump had given numerous reasons for the strikes, Emanuel said, including regime change. “It’s all of the above and more. Therefore … they [Congress] need to take a vote.”
But there is also division within the Democrats about how aggressively to resist Trump on Iran. While Jeffries and Senate leader Chuck Schumer have called for the administration to explain itself and seek congressional approval, they have not explicitly condemned the strikes.
Meanwhile, the young progressive Democratic congresswoman from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, described the military action as unlawful, unnecessary and catastrophic.
“The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the consequences of his actions,” she said, accusing Trump of being flippant about potential American casualties.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, one of the biggest cheerleaders for military action against Iran in Congress, said Trump would not get the US involved in an ongoing war.
He told Fox News he believed the regime would be quickly toppled. “The mothership of terrorism is about to go down. There is a new dawn coming to the Middle East,” he said.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.