Trump’s Iran Strikes Haven’t Changed the State of Play on Congress’ War Powers Push

The White House’s decision to launch widespread strikes against targets in Iran over the weekend appeared unlikely to flip any votes on a pair of pending war powers resolutions that would tie President Donald Trump’s hands on further military action in the region.

Both chambers have teed up votes on their respective measures this week — though the chances of passage in either remain slim.

In the House, Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Jared Moskowitz have said they would oppose bipartisan legislation intended to stop Trump’s large-scale air strikes to take down the Iranian government — joining nearly all House Republicans in opposition to the measure.

After the strikes, Gottheimer praised Trump’s decision making in a post on X, indicating that his position on the matter had not changed. Neither his nor Moskowitz’s offices returned a request for comment from NOTUS.

Sen. Mark Kelly, who has been harshly critical of Trump’s actions in Iran, appeared to have flipped Sunday when he said on “Meet the Press” that he was “rather unlikely” to support Sen. Tim Kaine’s war powers resolution. But just hours later, his office told NOTUS that Kelly had misunderstood the question.

“His answer there was saying that he would not vote to authorize a war. He supports the Kaine resolution, he continues to support the Kaine resolution,” said Jacob Peters, a spokesperson for Kelly who pointed NOTUS to a post on X where Kelly said he would vote for the measure.

Most Senate Democrats — except for Sen. John Fetterman, who has been outspoken in his support for Trump’s military action — have expressed support for re-introducing a war powers resolution to the chamber, despite a similar measure failing last year under stiff Republican opposition.

Across the Capitol, it was a different story. When Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear processing facilities last year, allegedly “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear program, he received praise from a number of Democrats, including Reps. Ritchie Torres, Greg Landsman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tom Suozzi.

Moskowitz, Gottheimer, Torres, Landsman, Wasserman Schultz and Souzzi have all accepted donations from the pro-Israel polical action committee American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to Track AIPAC, an advocacy group that tracks political donations by the group.

Following the strikes, which took place early Saturday morning at dozens of sites within Iran, none of these lawmakers expressed an appetite to block Trump’s actions in the future.

Sen. John Fetterman has been outspoken in his support for Trump’s military action. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

Wasserman Schultz called for additional congressional oversight on further action but did not indicate support for a war powers resolution. Her office did not return a request for comment.

Similarly, Suozzi praised Trump’s objectives but called on the president to seek congressional authorization to “avoid another costly, prolonged war in the Middle East,” he wrote in a post on X.

Torres, who also did not return a request for comment from NOTUS, has yet to comment on the Saturday strikes.

Landsman, who also did not return a request for comment, said he supports the strikes on Iran and did not call for any congressional action.

“I hope these targeted strikes on the Iranian regime’s military assets end the regime’s mayhem and bloodshed and makes way for this lasting peace in the region,” he wrote.

Only a handful of pro-Israel Democrats — including Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland — have called on Congress to assert its constitutional authority to declare war, though he did not directly endorse any legislation.

“Congress has war powers for a reason. We must exercise them and constrain the President. If we do not, we cede our authority” Hoyer wrote in a statement.

Trump’s strikes on Iran galvanized pressure for Democratic lawmakers to support the war powers resolution that Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie have pushed for weeks, though it appears destined to fail as a vote approaches.

Despite the headwinds, Khanna said he was optimistic about the resolution.

“Is going to be very close but I believe we will have every Democrat who wants to vote for another war in the Middle East,” Khanna said on “Meet the Press” Sunday, adding that there are also many Republicans who are likely to support the resolution.

Despite Khanna’s assertion, few Republicans have expressed support for a congressional intervention. Other than Massie, only Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Warren Davidson have called for Congress to vote on Trump’s military action. Most in the caucus support Trump’s decision to launch an attack in support of regime change.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has for months been a key voice calling for military intervention in Iran, said on Sunday that Trump had no plans to “occupy” the country and vowed that there would be “no boots on the ground.”

“Here’s what I can say the headline is for me Sunday: The mother ship of terrorism is sinking, the captain is dead,” Graham added. “We’re not done yet, but when it is done, Iran will no longer be capable of being the largest state sponsor of terrorism.”