Democrat lawmakers are demanding a vote to limit President Donald Trump’s war powers following the United States’ strikes against Iran.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) promised to compel a vote on the War Powers Resolution introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
“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,” Jeffries said in a statement. He added that Iran is a “bad actor” that must be “aggressively confronted for its human rights violations,” but said the Trump administration should have sought congressional approval.
The War Powers Resolution would prohibit U.S. hostilities in Iran without the approval of Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement on X that “Iran must never be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon but the American people do not want another endless and costly war in the Middle East when there are so many problems at home.”
The minority leader added that the administration must answer many questions about the scope of this operation, and said President Trump’s “fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy.”
“The Senate should quickly return to session and reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act,” Schumer concluded.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said the administration is at risk of repeating “mistakes of the past.”
“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,” Warner said in a statement. “But acknowledging those realities does not relieve any president of the responsibility to act within the law, with a clear strategy, and with Congress.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) called the attack “illegal and unconstitutional” and pushed for a vote on a War Powers Resolution in the Senate.
“A diplomatic solution remains the best way to permanently and verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Markey said. “No more war with Iran.”
Follow The Daily Wire’s live-blog coverage of the U.S. strikes on Iran.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who co-sponsored the Iran War Powers Resolution in the Senate, called the strikes “a colossal mistake.”
“The Senate should immediately return to session and vote on my War Powers Resolution to block the use of U.S. special forces in hostilities against Iran,” Kaine said in a statement.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) agreed with Kaine.
“Strikes are underway and Congress hasn’t voted,” Gallego said. “No President gets to drag working-class Americans into another war without authorization. Bring the Senate back. Take the vote.”
Like the resolution in the House, Kaine’s Iran War Powers Resolution would prohibit any U.S. participation in hostilities against Iran unless authorized by Congress. A similar resolution was introduced and defeated last June after the Trump administration obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement, calling the strikes a “catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”
“Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace,” the mayor added.
In addition to various politicians coming out against the strikes, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a statement condemning Trump’s actions.
“Overnight and without congressional approval, Donald Trump initiated major combat operations against Iran,” the statement begins. “Trump sold voters on a ‘pro-peace’ vision of himself as an America First candidate, yet in under 13 months, he has ordered strikes on seven foreign nations and plunged our country into more open-ended conflict using taxpayer dollars.”
Martin added that while Iran sanctions terrorism and undermines human rights, “our nation deserves better than a government that shoots first and asks questions later.”
Some Democrats, like Sen. Jon Fetterman (D-PA), have broken with their party to praise the strikes.
“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” Fetterman said in a post on X. “God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.”
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