Members of Congress stressed that time is of the essence, with Trump indicating that a strike could come any day, and Iran indicating that it could retaliate with devastating force.
War with Iran is very unpopular with the American public: according to a YouGov poll published On Tuesday, only 27% said they supported military force while 49% opposed it. As for Democrats, they are more united, with 76% saying they oppose the war, compared to only 9% who support it.
However, as freelance journalist Aida Chavez I mentioned In her newsletter Capital and empireDemocrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee tried to “temper the momentum and prevent a war powers vote on Iran from moving forward.”
Multiple sources told her that “a senior HFAC Democratic staffer…deliberately inflated opposition expectations for the bipartisan measure — warning that 20 to 40 Democrats would defect” in an attempt to suggest the resolution would fail overwhelmingly.
She said a senior Democratic congressional staffer told her it was “very clear” that Democratic leadership was working to “delay or potentially marginalize” the vote on the war powers resolution. “If you’ve been in the Hill District, this is a familiar playbook,” the employee said.
“The leadership rarely comes out and says they directly oppose these voices, because they know the core issue is popular with the base,” the foreign policy employee said. “Instead, you see concerns about process, objections to timing, and caucus unity arguments used to slow things down or keep members casual. We’ve seen the same approach in past war powers votes and foreign policy adjustments that run counter to the consensus of the national security elite.”
Democratic leaders have largely toned down their criticism of Trump’s buildup for what may be the most significant military action taken by the United States in decades.
Schumer, one of the top Recipients Funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel donors, he has limited his criticism of Trump’s war stances to procedural matters rather than policy.
In response to a question earlier this week about possible US strikes on Iran, Schumer responded He lamented That discussion was conducted in “closed briefings”, saying that “the administration should make its case to the American people as something as important as this.”
Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a similar statement in which he did not object to the war in principle, but rather to the fact that Trump’s reasons for starting the war were not clear.
“The President and his administration have not attempted to clarify whether their goal is to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, protect Iranian protesters, seek regime change, or simply distract from his failure to deliver on his promises at home.” Kunz said In a statement posted on social media. He added: “Congress and the American people need answers about our goals in Iran.”
Reportedly, President Donald Trump weight A large-scale military operation could lead to the assassination of Iran’s leaders. Meanwhile Iran He said In the event of a large-scale attack, it would consider U.S. military bases “legitimate targets,” meaning U.S. service members could be in danger.
like Drop website news I mentioned Late last week, based on conversations with an unnamed Schumer aide in June — weeks before Trump attacked three nuclear sites in Iran — a number of important Senate Democrats believed that if Trump wanted to start a war with Iran, they should not stand in his way.
Not only did these Democrats believe that “Iran eventually needed to be dealt with militarily,” but they also “realized that going to war again in the Middle East would be a political disaster.”
“This is precisely why they wanted Trump to be the one to do it,” the report continued. “The hope was that Iran would take a hit, and so would Trump, which would be a win-win for Democrats.”
Other sources on Capitol Hill told Chavez that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other leaders in the House of Representatives had not mobilized support for the Khanna-Massie resolution, while few members publicly supported it, even with no other war powers resolutions up for a vote.
Two prominent pro-Israel Democrats, Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) and Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey), came Moscow opposed the war powers resolution on Friday along with Moskowitz Makes fun In the name of the “Ayatollah Protection Law”.
They claimed in a statement that Iran “is still seeking a nuclear weapon,” despite US intelligence agencies and the United States International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations The International Atomic Energy Agency estimated the opposite.
Iran’s leaders have expressed their willingness to reach an agreement with the United States that limits their ability to develop a nuclear weapon while allowing them to pursue peaceful nuclear technology in line with the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
International Atomic Energy Agency Evaluated While Trump withdrew the United States from the previous nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran was abiding by its terms. Since the deal collapsed, it has begun to expand Uranium enrichment, according to A a report by agency last year.
during interview On the podcast Breaking points Khanna said on Tuesday that Democrats who sought to repeal the bill were guided by “powerful interests eager for regime change in Iran.”
“This has been a long-term goal of AIPAC and other groups,” Khanna said. He added: “So when you stand up and say: ‘I will introduce legislation to uphold the Constitution and not get us into another war,’ you are making enemies.”
He said pro-war Democrats are aligning with Trump’s push for the same reason they resisted releasing a Democratic National Committee report assessing that former Vice President Kamala Harris’ stance on Israel cost her votes in the 2024 election, and they refused to say Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.
“Not that they would disagree with him,” Khanna said. “It’s just that they don’t want to be targeted by billionaires and powerful people.”
Khanna said he plans to meet with other Democratic members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday to canvass for his resolution. He says he believes he will have enough support to force a vote on the resolution by next week, but “it takes work.”
“There are a lot of people in Congress who would rather these issues go away,” he said.
Source link
