Trump’s Iran Blitz Usurps Congress, Obliterates Bid to Stop Him

The Godzilla of politics, President Donald Trump has struck again, and this time, he preempted Congress’s power to declare war and could distract the American public—and their representatives—from a flailing domestic agenda.

Trump, together with Israel, Saturday ordered strikes against targets across Iran and urged Iranians to overthrow the government in a conflict that is already spiraling across the oil-rich Middle East.

The strikes happened just before Democrats in the House and Senate vowed to force a vote on a war powers resolution to direct Trump to terminate the use of armed forces against Iran, unless explicitly authorized by Congress.

Presidents of both parties have skirted war powers resolutions in the past. As was the case with several war powers resolutions blocking US military presence in Venezuela, an Iran war powers resolution is non-binding and the president can veto it.

The standing statute requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing troops to hostilities and forces removal within 60 to 90 days unless Congress authorizes a longer period, declares war, or extends the deadline.

Passage of a war resolution is uncertain in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, with GOP members from both chambers expressing initial support for the strikes, as well as a few pro-Israel Democrats—Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (Fla.)—backing the moves.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) praised the attacks Saturday and said that the administration “better well make it about getting new leadership and regime change.”

Moving On From Venezuela

Regardless of the war resolution’s fate in Congress, the conflict and threat of more strikes in the Middle East is spreading.

From Kuwait to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all countries hosting US military assets reported Iranian missile attacks on their territories.

For the first time since its establishment more than four decades ago, Iran has now attacked all the major US military bases surrounding it across the Persian Gulf.

Trump in 2024 vowed not to start the kind of war he just did. In a break from his campaign promises to keep the US out of foreign wars, Trump decided to attack—despite what Arab mediators described as significant progress in nuclear talks with Tehran, and in the face of polling showing most Americans oppose fresh military action.

The gamble comes after the president ordered a high-stakes US military raid inside Venezuela, outraging allies with his gambit to take over Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark. Most Americans already think the president is focused too much on foreign policy and too little on the economy. Trump’s gambit risks a drawn-out regional war that can lead to a surge in energy prices and American casualties ahead of midterm elections this year.

“Wasting billions in a destabilizing bloody conflict, even though directed at a despicable regime, he imperils the lives of Americans and innocent civilians throughout the region,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said Saturday. “Choosing war is not ‘peace through strength'; it only distracts from his many failures here at home.”

But whatever happens, Trump has fired the first shot — literally — and there’s nothing Congress can do about it for now.