Reactions to Trump’s Iran Strikes

Members of Congress assert that the president can’t start a war.

Reactions from members of Congress, government officials, candidates, and major organizations to Donald Trump’s unconstitutional attack on Iran.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD): “Remember all those times Trump & Vance said they wouldn’t drag America into another war? They LIED. Their actions today put American lives at risk, undermine our broader interests around the world, & will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.”

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ): “Khamenei was the epitome of evil. For decades, he oversaw the torture, imprisonment, and murder of countless Iranians who dared to demand freedom. American blood is on his hands as well. No one should mourn him and his death is a relief. But removing one man does not dismantle a brutal regime. Military force alone will not secure a democratic future for the Iranian people, and it risks putting U.S. troops in further danger if there is no serious plan for what comes next. An action of this magnitude demands strategy, clarity, and a credible path forward. I want nothing more than a free Iran and safety and security for innocent Iranians. That requires more than force. It requires seriousness, accountability, and a real plan to support the Iranian people in determining their own future.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “Iran’s leadership has long supported terrorism across the region, undermined regional stability, continued to advance its nuclear ambitions, and brutally repressed its own people. But acknowledging those realities does not relieve any president of the responsibility to act within the law, with a clear strategy, and with Congress.”

(BornaMir/iStock)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): “Donald Trump’s single-handedly starting another war with Iran is dangerous and illegal. ‘America first’ doesn’t mean dragging the United States into another forever war built on lies while ignoring the needs of Americans here at home. The Constitution is clear: only Congress can declare war. The Senate must come back in session immediately to vote up or down on a War Powers Resolution.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA): “Trump’s illegal actions raise the threat of escalation into a wider regional war with grave risks for U.S. troops and civilians in the region.”

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ): “The Iranian people deserve freedom and dignity. But we cannot send our men and women to die at the whim of the President. The regime’s actions shouldn’t become an excuse for a wider war that punishes civilians and puts our troops at risk.”

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ): “Americans don’t want to go to war with Iran. By launching strikes, President Trump has made the same dangerous and foolish decision President Bush did a generation ago. He put Americans in harm’s way without clearly showing there’s an imminent threat to our national security. He put the Iranian people in harm’s way by calling on them to rise up without a broad coalition of partners to assist in their protection. And Trump once again started a cycle of violence that has already escalated and could spiral out of control. This is unacceptable. The Senate should vote on Senator Kaine’s War Powers Resolution immediately. I stand ready to do so today.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): “It won't be the billionaire children of Donald Trump and his buddies that die. It's going to be the children of middle class and poor families all across this country that are gonna die for a war of choice, a war of vanity, an illegal war.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “As yet another preemptive war is begun in the Middle East, John Quincy Adam’s words of wisdom still ring true:

‘Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.’

Like most Americans I have sympathy for the plight of the Iranian people and all subjected people around the globe, from North Korea to Tibet. But as Adam’s wrote, America: ‘goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.’”

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA): “Has President Trump learned nothing from decades of U.S. meddling in Iran and forever wars in the Middle East? Is he too mentally incapacitated to realize that we had a diplomatic agreement with Iran that was keeping its nuclear program in check, until he ripped it up during his first term? For months, I have raised hell about the fact that the American people want lower prices, not more war—especially wars that aren’t authorized by Congress, as required by the Constitution, and don’t have a clear objective.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT): “President Trump, along with his right wing extremist Israeli ally Benjamin Netanyahu, has begun an illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war. Tragically, Trump is gambling with American lives and treasure to fulfill Netanyahu’s decades long ambition of dragging the United States into armed conflict with Iran.

The US Constitution is clear. It is the Congress that declares war, not a president acting unilaterally. The Senate must reconvene immediately and vote on a pending War Powers Resolution, which I will strongly support. Further, this attack against Iran is a clear violation of international law and will create increased instability in an already dangerous world. If the United States and Israel can launch an attack against a sovereign nation, so can any other country. Might does not make right. It creates international anarchy, death, destruction and human misery.

The American people were lied to about Vietnam. The American people were lied to about Iraq. The American people who are being lied to again today, dash. And once again, it is ordinary people who will pay the price. The people of our country, no matter what their political persuasion, do not want endless war. They want decent paying jobs and health care and housing that they can afford. They want their kids to have an excellent education. We must not allow Trump to force us into another senseless war. No war with Iran.”

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “The framers of the United States Constitution gave Congress the sole power to declare war as the branch of government closest to the American people.”

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): “I am opposed to this War. This is not ‘America First. When Congress reconvenes, I will work with @RepRoKhanna to force a Congressional vote on war with Iran. The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.”

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO): “I went to war three times for this country and learned that when elites in Washington bang the war drums, working class folks pay the price. The tough talk of a five-time draft dodger falls flat for Americans tired of military adventurism.”

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT): This is “a war of choice with no strategic endgame.”

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): “Without any specific imminent threat nor the required consent of Congress, President Trump has now launched what he calls an act of ‘war’ against Iran with no clear strategy or plan. Our Constitution does not grant the President unilateral power to thrust our nation into a regional war that will inevitably result in the significant loss of American lives. Yet again President Trump is defying our Constitution to spend billions of dollars overseas while working families struggle to make ends meet at home… Congress’s power to declare war is not merely a superficial authority; it requires the President to provide a clear justification and transparent day-after plan before sending our troops to war. President Trump has provided neither to Congress nor the American people. Congress must return to Washington immediately to vote on the war powers resolution.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): “The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic…Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead. President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating ‘that often happens in war.’ Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people…Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region, and this will be no different.

In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war.”

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL): Congress must reconvene immediately to vote on a War Powers Resolution to stop Trump’s illegal and dangerous war. We know what comes next: instability, innocent death, our troops risking their lives, and chaos. These regime change wars do not work. We can support the people of Iran without bombing them. Just days ago, Trump was already misrepresenting what his own generals were telling him, including warnings about the high risk of American casualties. The American people deserve the truth, especially as innocent civilians are already dying and U.S. service members are being put in harm’s way. Whether this is about politics, oil, shielding himself from scandal, or backing Benjamin Netanyahu, one thing is clear: this is an unnecessary war of choice, launched without transparency or accountability.

Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL): “No justification, no authorization from Congress, and no clear objective. But none of that matters to Donald Trump — and apparently neither do the safety and lives of American service members…Donald Trump is once again sidestepping the Constitution and once again failing to explain why he’s taking us into another war. Americans asked for affordable housing and health care, not another potentially endless conflict. God protect our troops.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA): “The corrupt and repressive Iranian regime must never have nuclear weapons. The leadership of Iran must go. But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends without justification to the American people. President Trump is putting Americans at risk abroad because he is unpopular at home.”

Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow:

“Donald Trump is a dangerous, dishonest, and reckless President who cannot be trusted to unilaterally take our country to war…We don’t need another costly, protracted conflict in the Middle East with no strategy. We’ve seen how this plays out. It ends with American lives lost, civilians killed abroad, billions spent, and a world that is no safer than it was before…Instead of focusing resources to ensure Americans have access to healthcare, housing, jobs, safety and security in their own communities, this President has chosen a war overseas at the expense of everyone back home.”

ACLU: “The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding Congress take immediate action to end President Trump’s unconstitutional use of military force against Iran, until and unless Congress declares war on Iran or specifically authorizes the use of force. This comes after President Trump announced in the middle of the night that the U.S. and Israel were bombing Iran and called for the overthrow of its government. President Trump, who ran on ending America’s wars, also noted in his speech, ‘The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war.’ While the ACLU does not take a position on whether military force should be used against Iran, for decades the organization has been steadfast in insisting, from Vietnam through the war in Afghanistan, both wars in Iraq, the military action against Libya, and the ongoing use of force in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, that the Constitution is clear that decisions on whether to use military force require Congress’s specific, advance authorization.

“Last night, President Trump violated the Constitution when he didn’t even bother to ask Congress before bombing a country of nearly 100 million people,” said Christopher Anders, director of the ACLU’s Democracy and Technology Division. “Our founding fathers and the Constitution give war authority power to Congress, and Congress alone. It is what makes us a democracy, and ensures that our leaders fully consider the many costs of war — including the harm to human lives and rights, and any effects on global peace and stability — before sending American troops into danger. If President Trump wants to send American armed forces into conflict, he must make his case to the American people and their representatives in Congress. The commander in chief must follow the chain of command and that begins with we the people.”

Public Citizen: “The president who so pathetically claims to be deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize has launched a deadly and unconstitutional regime change war. There is no Congressional declaration of war nor authorization for the use of force in Iran, making Trump’s actions transparently unconstitutional and illegal.Importantly, Trump’s actions in Iran would be illegal under international law even if there were Congressional authorization. Iran poses no imminent security threat to the United States. Exactly like the Iraq war Trump untruthfully claimed to have opposed, this is a war of choice driven by arrogance and imperial ambition. And exactly like the Iraq war, the risks are manifold — with needless short-term deaths inevitable and long-term consequences unknowable.

“War is to be expected from authoritarian rulers, who are inclined to demonstrate their power by deploying force and who by nature may tend to view genuine diplomacy as weakness.

War is also the default move of weakened political leaders, who hope that a call to rally behind the flag can overcome their unpopularity and flagging control. Congress must act immediately to end this illegal and unconstitutional aggression.”

---