(Washington) A resolution aimed at limiting Donald Trump’s powers in the war against Iran was rejected Wednesday in the US Senate, due to the Republican majority’s robust support for the US-Israeli operation.
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At the end of January, even before the outbreak of the conflict, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine introduced a resolution to “order the withdrawal of American armed forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.”
But his initiative was rejected with 53 votes against and 47 for. Democrat John Fetterman, who supports the war, voted against it, while Republican Rand Paul was the only one from his party to vote for it.
PHOTO ELIZABETH FRANTZ, REUTERS
Democratic Senator John Fetterman supports war in Iran
Faced with a president who has extended the influence of the executive power over the legislature since his return to the White House in January 2025, Tim Kaine, alongside many other Democratic parliamentarians, assured that he wanted to reaffirm the authority of Congress, the only one authorized by the Constitution of the United States to declare war.
“Americans want President Trump to lower prices — not drag us into unnecessary and eternal wars,” the Virginia senator said in a statement Tuesday, denouncing since Saturday a conflict launched “illegally” by the Republican.
At the end of a classified defense briefing on Tuesday between senators and in particular the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, on the war against Iran, Tim Kaine assured AFP that no evidence had been presented by the government on the existence of an “imminent threat from Iran” against the United States.
This question of “imminent threat” is at the heart of the debate on the legality of Donald Trump’s initiation of the conflict.
Because if Congress is the only one authorized to declare war, a 1973 law allows the president to trigger a limited military intervention to respond to an emergency situation created by an attack against the United States.
In his video announcing the operation on Saturday, Donald Trump had mentioned an “imminent” threat posed by Iran, according to him, but did not convince the Democratic opposition on this subject.
In the House of Representatives, a resolution similar to that of Tim Kaine in the Senate should be put to a vote on Thursday, but failure is also expected there.
“The idea that we are taking away this power from our commander in chief, the president, to finish the job is a frightening prospect to me,” said Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, on Monday.
“It’s dangerous, and I hope – and I believe – that we have enough votes to reject this,” he added to the press at the Capitol.
