Philissa Cramer
The Senate late Wednesday rejected a measure that would have required President Donald Trump to get congressional approval to continue fighting against Iran.
The measure was initiated by Democrats, who have raised questions about the process by which Trump initiated the war alongside Israel on Saturday. The War Powers Act requires U.S. presidents to seek congressional approval for wars in advance or shortly after their start unless there is an imminent threat to the United States. Trump and his administration officials have given mixed signals about whether a threat was considered direct and imminent.
The vote took place along largely partisan lines, with two exceptions. Rand Paul, the Republican from Kentucky, who tends to oppose international intervention, backed the measure. John Fetterman, the pro-Israel Democrat from Pennsylvania, voted no.
The vote comes as multiple polls have shown that a majority of Americans, about 60%, oppose U.S. participation in the war.
There’s some confusion going on here. Both Democrats and Republican presidents have done the exact same thing that Donald Trump has just done in attacking Iran. Clinton did it in Kosovo and Obama did for seven months in Libya. However it’s only the Democrats who attempt to take over the impossible job of naming over 450 presidents to run our foreign policy.
If you read the constitution, it says that only Congress can declare, not initiate hostilities, wars. Wars issue definite powers on any president that hostilities do not.