Spare the usual suspects, Senate Republicans sound more than happy to cede war powers to the president when it comes to the United States’ involvement in Israel’s war with Iran.
“I will support whatever he decides,” Sen. Kevin Cramer told NOTUS. “To include if he decides to drop bunker busters on Fordo and finish once and for all — getting rid of — any nuclear capability by this regime,” he said, referring to Iran’s Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant.
Cramer acknowledged that he and his peers were in a debate over Trump’s power to execute a strike on Iran, but he said the executive branch should have the room to assess that Iran is an “imminent threat.”
Sens. Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders have both offered resolutions to limit just how far the Trump administration can involve itself in Iran without congressional approval.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has introduced a similar bill in the House, with the support of prominent Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In the Senate, few Republicans have spoken to the importance of Congress’ war powers for this moment.“Bombing other countries is obviously war,” Sen. Rand Paul, who has long been a vocal proponent of Congress taking back its authority over acts of war, told reporters on Tuesday. “So yeah, if you want to do that, you need to come to Congress and ask for permission.”
That said, Paul hasn’t decided where he stands on the resolutions that Sens. Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders have put forward that would limit those military options.
“My position is that no president can bomb another country without the permission of Congress,” Paul added. “If someone is bombing you, or on the way with bombers, that would be an imminent threat.”
Other Republicans, however, are already justifying Trump’s power to act.
“Iran’s been at war with the United States since 1979,” Sen. John Cornyn told NOTUS. “So I think he has all the authority he needs. He’s not going to put U.S. troops in direct combat.”
Sen. Tim Sheehy, too, pointed to Operation Eagle Claw as the start of “our Middle Eastern involvement,” suggesting that continued actions wouldn’t ever need to involve congressional approval, though he did say it isn’t time to send troops into Iran, even in a limited capacity.
“Since then — essentially nonstop — from Beirut, Lebanon, up to the first Gulf War, all the way through the ’90s, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, all the way through Afghanistan, Iraq,” Sheehy told NOTUS. “We haven’t left the Middle East since then.”
Sanders’ resolution would specifically prohibit the use of federal dollars and participation from the military in any actions against Iran without congressional approval. Kaine’s resolution is meant to stop “any hostilities with Iran” but not limit troops’ ability to defend themselves, which he says is privileged under the War Powers Act.
“If members of Congress believe we should be at war with Iran, let them introduce a declaration of war or an authorization,” Kaine told NOTUS. “The fact that they have not done that means that they’re aware that it would be highly unpopular, that their constituents would be very upset with them for doing it.”
Congress has no current authorization to use military force that would necessarily cover a direct conflict with Iran, though that hasn’t stopped previous presidents from involving the U.S. in conflicts abroad. The 2001 Authorization of Military Force, which was passed to go to war with Iraq, is still in effect, despite efforts from both Republicans and Democrats to repeal it. Meanwhile, it’s still not clear what Trump’s administration is going to do.
Trump called for the “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” of Iran on Truth Social Tuesday, after calling Ayatollah Ali Khamenei an “easy target” the U.S. is prepared to kill. Trump said the U.S. would not, “at least not for now.”Vice President JD Vance posted on X Tuesday that Trump could “take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” saying that it would be “using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals.”
At least two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee told NOTUS that the messaging from the White House “both publicly and privately” was mixed.
The U.S. military is already moving to what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called a “defensive posture,” adding the USS Nimitz and a second carrier strike group to the Mediterranean and significantly increasing the intercept capability of U.S. forces in the region.
The U.S. has consistently participated in operations to defeat incoming rockets and missiles, including providing air defense ground forces in Israel to augment the Iron Dome system.
But, back in early April, the U.S. moved B-2 bombers to a military support facility jointly operated by the United Kingdom at Diego Garcia, a small island in the Indian Ocean. Members of the Senate received briefings on the military’s posture.
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.