US strikes on Iran deepen fight over presidential war powers
Fresh US attacks and Iranian retaliation have renewed a legal dispute over whether Trump can keep using force without Congress.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
The United States struck Iranian military targets for a second straight day, prompting Iranian attacks on US sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, Al Jazeera reported. The exchange has sharpened a dispute in Washington over whether President Donald Trump is defying a congressional war powers measure aimed at limiting further military action against Iran.
Al Jazeera reported that US Central Command hit Iranian sites on Saturday after accusing Tehran of targeting a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded on Sunday against US military locations in Bahrain and Kuwait, according to the report, raising pressure on a June 15 memorandum of understanding between Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said the latest US attacks were “a blatant violation” of the congressional resolution and threatened legal action. “Trump must stop this war now – or we will take him to court to compel him to do so,” Khanna wrote on X, according to Al Jazeera.
What Congress passed
Al Jazeera reported that the Senate voted 50-48 on Tuesday for a resolution directing the president to remove US forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress explicitly authorizes further force. The House passed the measure on June 3 by 215 to 208, according to the report.
The measure allows a limited US military presence in the region to prevent an imminent attack on the United States or its allies, Al Jazeera reported. Four Republican senators — Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Rand Paul — joined Democrats in backing the Senate resolution, while Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick did not vote.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump before the vote, saying the president had produced “maximum confusion, maximum chaos, maximum cost to the American people” in Iran, according to Al Jazeera. The report also cited an Ipsos/Reuters poll finding that less than a quarter of Americans believe the war has been worth its cost.
Trump dismissed the vote as “poorly timed and meaningless” and said it gave “aid and comfort” to Iran, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet said Trump later criticized Republican senators who supported the measure, and that the Senate rejected a nearly identical resolution 47-50 after Cassidy changed his vote and Paul voted present.
Legal force remains disputed
The 1973 War Powers Resolution requires a president to inform Congress within 48 hours after sending US forces into hostilities and limits prolonged military action without congressional approval, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that the new Iran measure is largely symbolic because it does not carry the full force of law.
A White House official said the resolution had “no significance” and argued that there were no active hostilities because a ceasefire had ended them on April 7, Al Jazeera reported. Trump told the Axios Show last week that he had learned no lesson about limits on his executive power in the Iran war, saying, “There are no limits,” according to the report.
Bruce Fein, a US constitutional expert, told Al Jazeera that courts were likely to avoid the dispute under the political questions doctrine. Fein said Congress could end the war by cutting off funding requested by Trump and called the president’s conduct “clearly an impeachable offence.”
Iran says the renewed US attacks breach the June 15 memorandum, Al Jazeera reported. Hassan Ahmadian, an associate professor at the University of Tehran, told the outlet that the strikes could trigger further retaliation and argued that the United States was trying to escape parts of the agreement while holding Iran to its terms.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.