Senate Votes to Curb Trump’s War Powers Over Soleimani Strike

By Daniel Flatley

The Senate voted to restrict President Donald Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran, with eight Republicans joining Democrats to approve a measure that would require express congressional approval before a strike.

The resolution, introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, bars U.S. troops from engaging in hostilities against Iran or any part of its government or military, unless Congress declares war or specifically authorizes the use of military force. The president said he will veto the legislation.

“With passage of this resolution, we sent a powerful message that we don’t support starting a war with Iran unless Congress votes that military action is necessary,” Kaine said in a statement after the vote. “If we’re to order our young men and women in uniform to risk their lives and health in war, it should be on the basis of careful deliberation.”

The resolution was adopted on a 55-45 vote and next goes to the Democratic-led House, where it’s expected to be approved. Thursday’s Senate vote fell short of the margin that would be needed to override a Trump veto.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Thursday’s vote a “clear shot across the bow,” to show Trump that “a bipartisan majority of senators don’t want the president waging war without congressional approval.”

Inadequate Briefing

Republican senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul signed on as cosponsors of the measure last month after a briefing by Trump administration officials about the drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in early January. The two senators said the explanation from officials, including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, was inadequate and condescending.

Lee opposed one of several attempts by GOP colleagues to sink or weaken the legislation by amending it on the Senate floor. The Utah Republican said the “military-industrial complex” has grown too powerful during the country’s longest period at war. He said measures like the Kaine resolution will clarify that it is Congress’s responsibility to debate and declare war.

“We’ve been lied to by the Pentagon for years regarding a war that’s gone on two decades,” Lee said. “We don’t want additional ambiguities, we don’t want any more war.”

Lee and Paul were joined by fellow Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana, who signed on to the measure after Kaine removed direct references to Trump and the Soleimani strike. Kaine said Wednesday the resolution is “not directed toward President Trump,” but rather to the executive branch in general.

Bipartisan Vote

In addition to GOP Senators Lee, Paul, Collins and Young, four other Republicans voted for the resolution: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

The three senators seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination—Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren—also left the campaign trail to be in Washington and support the measure.

Kaine has said that the resolution would not prevent the president from taking action to defend U.S. troops in harm’s way or to take defensive action against an imminent threat.

“While the president does and must always have the ability to defend the United States from imminent attack, the executive power to initiate war stops there,” Kaine said. “An offensive war requires a congressional debate and vote.”

The president would veto the resolution, according to a Wednesday statement from his administration that called it “untimely and misguided.” Kaine’s resolution was drafted several weeks ago and is no longer relevant since the U.S. is not currently engaged in any hostilities against Iran, the statement said.

Photo: Wikicommons

Senate to Vote This Week on Limiting Trump’s Iran Options

By David Flatley

The Senate will take up a resolution this week intended to rein in President Donald Trump’s ability to attack Iran without congressional authorization, as Democrats and a small group of Republican senators push back following the killing in January of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

“This is not about bucking the president,” Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said Monday. “This about making sure the process works as the Constitution requires.”

Lee is one of four Republican senators co-sponsoring the measure with Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, that would order the president to cease any hostilities against Iran, its government or its military without express authorization from Congress.

The GOP support will provide the 51 votes needed for the Senate to pass the resolution. The House passed a similar measure in January but would need to pass Kaine’s resolution for the legislation to go to Trump’s desk. The president is likely to veto it, and the Senate lacks the votes for an override.

“We’re likely to start the debate on Wednesday afternoon,” Kaine said. “We’ll probably have it done by Thursday.”

Trump ordered a drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed Soleimani in Baghdad. Some lawmakers, especially Democrats, have said the White House repeatedly shifted its justification for the strike.

Classified Briefing

The Senate measure, S.J.Res. 68, includes changes sought by Republicans who were frustrated by a classified briefing in January by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other administration officials. Lee said it was the worst briefing he’d ever received on military matters.

Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine are also co-sponsoring the Senate measure.

With four Democratic senators—Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Michael Bennet of Colorado—in New Hampshire for the presidential primary Tuesday, holding the vote late Wednesday or Thursday would give them time to return to Washington.

The House resolution similar to Kaine’s is sponsored by Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat and a former CIA analyst.

The House also has passed other bills related to the Soleimani operation, including two in January from Representatives Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee, both of California, that would defund military action against Iran not authorized by Congress. It also would repeal a 2002 authorization for the use of military force that the administration has cited as part of its justification for the strike on Soleimani.

Photo: IRNA

Pompeo, Trump's Pick for Secretary of State, Vows Diplomatic Approach to Iran

President Donald Trump's pick to become Washington's top diplomat pledged Thursday to work with US allies to strengthen the Iran deal and played down fears he is bent on regime change in North Korea.

Mike Pompeo, the outgoing director of the Central Intelligence Agency, disavowed his reputation as a "war hawk" and an anti-Muslim hardliner as he sought to woo support from senators to become the next US secretary of state.

He told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he would restore "swagger" to a State Department left in tatters by Rex Tillerson, and strengthen relations with US partners left ragged after the tumultuous first year of President Donald Trump's administration.

Pompeo, a former congressman, emphasized his close relationship with Trump—something Tillerson never had—and his time at the CIA, which he said had given him a strong appreciation for the necessity to work closely with foreign partners.

He promised to fill scores of unoccupied diplomatic posts, to spend time with the staff and delegate authority, saying current state department staff are "demoralized" and "do not feel relevant."

"All of this—listening, leveraging differences, unleashing talent, teamwork—will become the fabric of a State Department culture that finds its swagger once again," he said.

Reputation as Hardliner

With a series of tough foreign policy challenges looming, Trump has made the 54-year-old West Point and Harvard Law graduate a key aide for his second year in office, along with fellow arch-conservative John Bolton, who joined the White House this week as the president's national security advisor.

Bolton later lavished praise on Pompeo, describing him as a "talented and experienced public servant" as well as a "good friend."

"We need him as secretary of state as we support the president and take on some of the toughest foreign policy issues of our time," he said in a statement.

He was also quizzed on former statements, when he was a congressman from Kansas, that have led him to be cast as anti-Muslim and anti-gay. But he cited his record in the CIA as supporting a diverse workforce, "focusing on mission and demanding that every team member be treated equally and with dignity and respect."

Confirmation Not Certain

After five hours of testimony, though, Pompeo's confirmation by the committee, and then the entire Senate, was not assured, even though his nomination in early 2017 as CIA director passed easily.

One Republican senator on the committee, Rand Paul, has declared himself opposed, meaning at least one Democrat will have to cross party lines and support him to see the nomination through to a full vote.

But Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican hawk on foreign policy, has said Pompeo would be taking over during a "dangerous" period globally, and that "I think he's the right guy at the right time." A committee vote is expected sometime later this month.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons