Several key Democratic leaders criticized Trump’s decision to strike Iran without Congressional approval, while prominent Iran hawks on both sides praised the move.
Key Facts
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized the president, saying he “has failed to deliver” on his promise to “bring peace to the Middle East,” and “risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said “President Trump must provide the American people and Congress clear answers on the actions taken tonight and their implications for the safety of Americans…No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy.”
Schumer added, “We must enforce the War Powers Act,” as he urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to put the motion on the Senate floor “immediately.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., described the strikes as a “disastrous decision” and a “grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” adding that this was “clearly grounds for impeachment.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who tried to push a resolution in Congress last week to curb Trump’s ability to join the conflict, tweeted: “This is not Constitutional.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a vocal Trump supporter who has pushed against U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, wrote on X: “Let us join together and pray for the safety of our U.S. troops and Americans in the Middle East…Let us pray that we are not attacked by terrorists on our homeland.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said the strikes were “alarming” and “grossly unconstitutional,” while addressing a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the crowd chanted “No more wars.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called Trump “a weak and dangerously reckless president,” and said he had been briefed on intelligence last week that said Iran “posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States” and was “not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon.
