Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats will force a vote on a War Powers Act resolution to rein in President Donald Trump on Iran.
New York’s senior senator said the Democrats would force the vote when the Senate returns next week. The announcement comes after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire that has already proven fragile.
“All of this happens when one man, especially a man acting as unhinged as Donald Trump, has unchecked power to wage war,” Schumer told reporters. “He backs himself into a corner with dangerous, escalating rhetoric.”
But ahead of the announcement, Trump had threatened that, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” He has also threatened to bomb energy infrastructure and bridges, which many experts consider to be a war crime, exhorting Iran to “Open the F***in’ Strait [of Hormuz], you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Schumer criticized the language Trump employed.
“The entire world holds its breath, wondering what's next going to come out of his mouth,” Schumer said. “And can he ever find a way out? A commander-in-chief who is truly in control would never have gotten into this colossal mess to begin with.”
If Congress passes a War Powers Act resolution, the president needs to inform Congress within 48 hours of troops being deployed and troops must be withdrawn within 60 to 90 days if Congress has not voted to declare war or authorize the use of military force.
“The war made us worse in terms of control of the Strait of Hormuz,” Scumer said. “The war made us worse in terms of the strength of the Iranian regime. The war made us worse in terms of high gas prices. The war made us worse because Iran's nuclear ambitions have been unchecked. And the war made us worse because American credibility is down the drain.”
So far, the Republican-controlled House and Senate have rejected the opportunity to invoke the War Powers Act. House Speaker Johnson has said that the United States is “not at war right now.”
But Schumer said that holding the vote is nonetheless important.
“No president, Democrat or Republican, should take this country to war alone,” he said. “Not now, not ever. Republicans will once again have the opportunity to join Democrats and end this reckless war of choice.”
The president’s rhetoric over the weekend and in the buildup to his self-imposed deadline of Tuesday, led to some Democrats to call for Trump’s impeachment. Others called for the 25th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the Cabinet to remove Trump from office, to be invoked.
But Schumer did not go that far, saying that there only should be some constitutional safeguards.
“Trump chose this war,” he said. “He owns the consequences and next week Congress will act, has the opportunity to act, to make sure it cannot happen again.”
In March, Republicans blocked a War Powers Act resolution for a third time when it came to Iran. But there even seemed to be unease about allowing the president to act without checks among a handful of Republicans.
“I support the president’s actions taken in defense of American lives and interests,” Sen. John Curtis of Utah wrote in an op-ed for Deseret News. “However, I will not support ongoing military action beyond a 60-day window without congressional approval.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also expressed alarm on Tuesday before Trump announced the ceasefire.
“This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years,” she said. “It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home.”
In the House, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said she did not want to see the U.S. dragged into a larger conflict.
“President Trump has done a phenomenal job,” she told The Independent at the time. “So far, he's been excellent, but I am deeply concerned about the Washington war machine, getting their talons into the White House and getting us into a protracted and elongated and endless war with Iran.”
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