The Bipartisan Duo Pressing Congress to Assert Its War Powers

Sen. Tim Kaine has established himself as the Democrat pressing his party on Congress’ authority to declare war. On that he found common cause with Republican Sen. Rand Paul, and their unlikely partnership of more than a decade is now front and center with another conflict in the Middle East.

Senators struck down a resolution introduced by Kaine and Paul on Wednesday to limit military strikes on Iran. Though the vote came just days after the Trump administration launched a series of military operations in Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials over the weekend, the pair had been working on the motion for months. Kaine told NOTUS their work to push Congress to reassert its constitutional power to declare war began years ago.

The pair first bonded over the issue while serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee together in the 2010s, Kaine added.

“I could tell on Foreign Relations that he has a similar feeling that I have about executive power, which is, ‘Hey, executives should do what they need to do in Article 2, but they shouldn’t grab congressional powers away, ” Kaine said.

Kaine first introduced a bill to strengthen the consultation process between Congress and the executive branch on military action in 2014, alongside Sen. John McCain, but found his next teammate in Paul shortly after.

The pair co-sponsored a 2020 war powers resolution on Iran and a 2023 repeal of authorizations of military force from the early 2000s. In just the past year, Paul and Kaine teamed up to introduce a measure to restrict military strikes in the Caribbean and a resolution to prevent further action in Venezuela, in addition to the recent move to require congressional authorization for further military action in Iran.

Other senators said they admire how the pair has stuck together as the Trump administration has unilaterally moved on military operations in Iran and Venezuela. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said Kaine and Paul fiercely believe in the power of the legislative branch.

“They are two men of principle,” King told NOTUS. “They both respect the Constitution.”

Despite their differences on a range of policies, the pair have always shared the same view on the separation of powers, Kaine said. Both believe that regardless of the party of the president, Congress should be proactive about retaining its Article 1 responsibilities, he added.

“I could tell, just on the issue of executive power, we were similar in our philosophies. That’s what unifies us on the tariffs and the war powers issues,” he said.

Paul said Kaine is his go-to partner on issues of executive power.

“We’ve worked together on this issue on several occasions and I’ve found him to be a good and thoughtful person,” Paul told reporters on Wednesday. “I think that the arguments that he’s making, and that all of us are making, are very important.”

Paul added that he appreciates Kaine is as passionate as he is about congressional authority, regardless of which administration is in charge. He said they both worry about the direction Congress is headed.

“This is a Congress without a belief structure in defending legislative prerogative,” Paul said. “They just are a rubber stamp for whatever a president tells them to do. And also, this isn’t the first time, though. This has happened under Democrat presidents and Democrat majorities as well.”

Democratic Sen. Gary Peters also told NOTUS on Tuesday that he wished that more Republicans would think like Paul when it comes to executive power. No senator should be comfortable allowing a presidential administration to make singular decisions on acts of war, he added.

“When you’re talking about the war powers resolution, you’re talking about the U.S. Constitution,” Peters said. “I would hope that people in both parties would support the U.S. Constitution. And it’s sad we have Republicans who don’t stand up for the Constitution, despite them taking the oath that they did.”

Sen. Andy Kim echoed Peters’ sentiment that war powers should be a bipartisan issue, adding that he respects Paul’s conviction that Congress should have the sole ability to declare war.

“We in this job are supposed to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that should be a bipartisan objective,” Kim said.

Republican Sen. Todd Young crossed the aisle in January on a procedural vote to consider limiting the Trump administration’s ability to pursue military action in Venezuela. Though Young ultimately voted against that measure and the war powers resolution on Iran, he said he understands Kaine and Paul’s concerns about Congress ceding its authority.

“Congress can do better,” Young told reporters on Wednesday. “I think we need to do a better job of eliciting testimony before the fact here in Congress. That will always be within our realm of control. And I think Congress as an institution fell short in this case.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, another Republican, agreed with Young. Though Tillis also voted against the pair’s resolution on Iran, he said he supports the principle behind Kaine and Paul’s push.

“The broader point of having the discussion sooner is very important,” Tillis told reporters on Wednesday. “But no doubt about it, there will be a Democrat president someday, and he or she will do something that Congress will go, ‘how dare you not assert power,’ and we’re laying the predicate right here.”