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Last week, Congress had — and Republican leadership promptly blocked — the opportunity to exert its oversight responsibility over the Trump administration’s war with Iran.
With so many competing and conflicting claims from the White House, Congress must gain a clearer picture of what is happening in Iran and what U.S. plans are for ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The way to do that is through passage of a war powers resolution or an Authorization for the Use of Military Force.
Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden had earlier opposed invoking the War Powers Act, saying the president should have time to control and end the conflict. After more than two months days of conflict — and sky high gas prices — they now support it. Collins was one of four Republicans to vote to advance a measure to limit the president’s power in Iran earlier this month. Golden has called for an Authorized Use of Military Force to allow Congress to put guardrails on U.S. military intervention in Iran.
A vote on a Democrat-led war powers resolution was on the House calendar last Thursday. In a highly unusual move, it was pulled by Republican leadership at the last minute when it was clear that the measure would pass.
Since then, there’s been nothing but more confusion from the president. On Saturday, President Donald Trump said a peace agreement was near. On Monday, the U.S. was again dropping bombs on Iran and Trump suggested that there may not be a peace agreement.
In a Memorial Day post on his Truth Social platform, in which he mocked “Dumocrats” and Republican lawmakers who recently lost primaries, Trump said: “The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal.” That clarifies nothing.
Cynics might say such back and forth was just a ploy to drop and raise oil prices so wily investors, perhaps even the president’s family, could earn a lot of money by trading oil futures. We’d hate to think America’s foreign policy is determined by such greedy ploys. But without congressional oversight — and limited and contradictory information from the White House — the American people have no way of knowing.
Passing a measure to give Congress more oversight isn’t about political maneuvering. This is about a president waging a war with ever-changing goals and objectives. We were told early on that the military operation was about regime change. Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in late February. He was replaced by his son, so it is unclear if the regime changed at all.
Trump and others also claimed that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States. Defense officials debunked this claim. It is also unclear if Iran is anywhere near developing a nuclear weapon.
More recently, Trump has demanded that Iran end its blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a major avenue of Middle East oil exports. It’s worth noting that the strait was open before the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran.
If it is unclear why the U.S. is attacking Iran, it is also unclear how we’ll know when American objectives have been met. Will it take more bombings? American troops on the ground in Iran?
With so many unanswered questions, it is imperative that Congress assert its constitutional authority to ask questions and demand answers about military operations. Cancelling votes at the last minute to avoid this discourse and transparency is worse than cowardly. It is an affront to the American people, who need to know how their tax dollars are being spent and how one of our most valuable treasures, our military men and women, are being used.
