The United States Congress is set to vote this week on motions aimed at limiting Donald Trump’s authority as he wages war against Iran, but the Republican majority is expected to shield him.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump has sought to dramatically expand executive power, often overshadowing Congress. Lawmakers now aim to reassert the legislature’s constitutional role as the sole body empowered to declare war.
“Trump has launched an unnecessary, idiotic, and illegal war against Iran,” Senator Tim Kaine wrote on X shortly after the United States and Israel began military operations overnight Friday into Saturday.
In late January, amid a major US military buildup in the Middle East, Kaine introduced a bill requiring Trump to obtain congressional authorization for any military conflict with Iran. On Saturday, he called on Congress to return immediately from recess to vote on his resolution.
In a Sunday opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Kaine wrote that as a member of key legislative committees with access to classified intelligence, “I can state plainly that there was no imminent threat from Iran to America sufficient to warrant committing our sons and daughters to another war in the Middle East.”
Is the war legal?
Whether Iran posed an imminent threat is central to the debate over the legality of Trump’s campaign. While only Congress can declare war, the 1973 War Powers Act allows the president to launch limited military action in response to an attack on the United States.
At a Monday news conference, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth described the operations against Iran as “war,” not merely a limited military intervention.
In a video announcement broadcast Friday night, Trump claimed Iran posed an “imminent” threat to the United States.
Analyst Daniel Shapiro of the Atlantic Council said Trump failed to justify the “urgency or imminent threat that required a war now.”
“Typically, before launching major operations, presidents explain to the American people the strategic objectives and necessity of such actions. They also brief Congress so representatives can weigh in,” Shapiro wrote. “Trump did not do this, except for a briefing with eight congressional leaders a few days before hostilities began.”
Sixty-day limit
The White House said it gave these eight congressional leaders formal notice of hostilities just before the attack. Under the 1973 War Powers Act, Trump must now seek congressional approval to continue military action beyond a 60-day period.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a rare Trump critic in his party, condemned the war on Saturday. Massie and Democratic colleague Ro Khanna plan to introduce a bill requiring a congressional vote on the Iran conflict.
“The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war,” Massie wrote on X.
A Senate vote on Kaine’s resolution is expected this week, along with a potential House vote on Massie and Khanna’s bill. However, most Republicans are expected to block these measures. Even if passed, a presidential veto would likely stand, as overriding it requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
AFP
