Trump Faces Rare Republican Pushback and Increasing Democratic Calls to Step Down After Iran Threats

With President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iranian officials to reopen the Strait of Hormuz quickly approaching, some Republican lawmakers are pushing back on Trump’s threats to attack civilian infrastructure and his assertion that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”

Trump’s post on Truth Social on Tuesday morning came after he said U.S. strikes would target bridges, desalination plants and other civilian infrastructure targets if Iranian officials do not agree to reopen the waterway, which is crucial for about 20% of the world’s oil, before 8 p.m ET.

Sen. Ron Johnson said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast Monday that he does not support Trump’s threats, adding he does not want to see civilians or civilian infrastructure in Iran attacked.

“I am hoping and praying that President Trump is – that this really is bluster,” Johnson said. “I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure. I do not want to see that. We are not at war with the Iranian people, we are trying to liberate them.”

Though Sen. John Curtis did not immediately respond to a question from NOTUS about his reaction to Trump’s comments Tuesday morning, he has recently said he does not support escalation of the war in Iran without congressional authorization.

“I support the president’s actions taken in defense of American lives and interests,” the Utah Republican wrote in an April 1 opinion in Deseret News. “However, I will not support ongoing military action beyond a 60-day window without congressional approval. I take this position for two reasons — one is historical, and one is constitutional.”

The president maintained he didn’t need congressional approval before launching strikes in late February, arguing it was a national emergency. But under the War Powers Resolution, which was passed in the 1970s, the president’s authority is limited unless Congress takes action to declare war.

Former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also condemned Trump’s plan to attack civilian infrastructure on Tuesday.

“25th Amendment!!!” Greene wrote in a post on X, referencing the amendment that lays out rules for a president resigning or being removed from office. “Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness.”

Trump is facing an increasing number of calls from Democrats to step down over his latest threats to civilians in Iran, as well.

“Trump has gone from threatening war crimes to talking about wiping out ‘an entire civilization,’” Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote on X Tuesday. “This is dangerous, reckless, and shows a president out of his depth. Trump’s increasingly showing he’s unfit for office—and those defending this war of choice are complicit.”

Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan also called for Trump to be removed from office if the military attacks civilian infrastructure in Iran, calling those actions a “war crime.”

“Threatening to destroy a civilization is clearly a war crime if he acts on it. He’s putting those who serve in the military in a terrible position,” Pocan posted on X. “This is stuff you’d wouldn’t even see from Putin, let alone the American president. Isn’t it time for the 25th amendment?”

Sen. Ed Markey posted a video to X on Tuesday calling on the House to return to Washington to pass articles of impeachment.

“A war powers resolution will not be enough,” Markey said. “Yes. We need to assert congressional authority and stop this illegal war in Iran. But, Trump is clearly an unstable warmonger at odds with the will of the people. Removal is the top priority. No more war criminal in the White House.”

Other Democrats are also asking Republican leadership to bring lawmakers back to town ahead of Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline.

“Trump’s threat to bomb Iran ‘back to the stone age’ and that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ is 1000% out of sync with every moral code,” Sen. Jeff Merkley wrote on X. immediately after Trump’s threats. “To the Republican leaders: call Congress back into session NOW to stop Trump’s plan to slaughter civilians.”

Rep. Yvette Clarke said Republican leadership should not allow Congress to remain uninvolved while the war escalates.

“If they fail to do this most basic moral and Constitutional duty, then they will bear the same responsibility for all crimes to come as the mad man who ordered them,” Clarke wrote on X.

House Democratic leadership, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, called on Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the House back into session immediately.

“Donald Trump is completely unhinged. His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response,” they wrote in a statement. “The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III.”

Jeffries also told the New York Times Tuesday that Democrats plan to force another vote on a war powers resolution, adding that he is optimistic the measure could pass the House with the support of just one or two Republicans.

It’s likely there could be another bipartisan push to vote again in the Senate on a war powers resolution requiring Congress to authorize further military action in Iran –– if there is escalation of the current situation on the ground.