U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, voted in favor of a resolution Thursday that sought to force President Donald Trump to receive congressional approval before taking any further military action in Iran.
McDonald Rivet said she voted for the resolution because congressional authority has been diminishing under the Trump administration and because “no clear imminent threat, objectives or timeline for America’s involvement” in the Middle East has been provided to Congress or the public.
“We know that it’s important to protect the president’s ability to act in a military way … on defense,” McDonald Rivet said in a phone call with WCMU. “But that’s not what this was. And I believe it was really important that we affirm our constitutional war powers.”
Passed during the Vietnam War, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 gives Congress the legal authority to halt the president’s military actions as commander in chief of the armed forces.
It also requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying U.S. troops. Congress, which is given the power to declare war under the Constitution, has not officially declared war since World War II. U.S. ground troops have not been deployed in Iran.
The vote in the U.S. House of Representatives fell mostly along party lines and failed by a handful of votes, 212-219. A similar resolution failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this week.
Members of Congress have received classified briefings on the war. When asked for her reaction to those briefings, McDonald Rivet said there is no clear plan.
“It feels like the administration is scrambling on this,” she said. “And quite frankly they’re scrambling on many other fronts as it relates to this now war. What is our plan for week two, three and four? How long is this going to last? Where is the money going to come from?”
Republicans have largely supported the president’s campaign in Iran. They cite the Iranian regime’s targeting of Americans and sponsorship of terrorism around the world as justification for the conflict.
Additionally, congressional Republicans claim Iran was seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. In June, the U.S. military executed Operation Midnight Hammer, bombing key nuclear facilities in Iran Trump said “no other military on Earth could have done,” resulting in the “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program.
“After Operation Midnight Hammer, those [nuclear bomb] ambitions were destroyed,” said U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, in a statement on Feb. 28, the first day of the war in Iran. “President Trump gave the Ayatollah a clear warning: dismantle your missile program or face further destruction. The regime ignored those warnings with plans to develop an ICBM that could reach the United States.”
Moolenaar voted against the resolution Thursday.
