The Senate will try again next week to pass a war powers resolution that would force President Trump to seek congressional approval for further military action in Iran, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday.
The announcement comes on the heels of the president agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran. The agreement came less than two hours before Mr. Trump’s Tuesday night deadline for Iran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face massive destruction of its power plants and bridges.
Mr. Schumer, along with a handful of critics, had labeled Mr. Trump’s threats a war crime.
“Congress must reassert its authority, especially at this dangerous moment. No president, Democrat or Republican, should take this country to war alone. Not now. Not ever,” Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, said at a Wednesday press conference.
“Republicans will once again have the opportunity to join Democrats and end this reckless war of choice. The public must demand that Republicans join with us to approve the War Powers Act,” he said.
The House and Senate have failed repeatedly to approve limits on the president’s military authority in Iran since the war started on Feb. 28.
The president’s statement this week that “a whole civilization will die tonight” prompted a frenzy of concern, with dozens calling for his removal from office.
The White House said Mr. Trump’s military operations are within his prerogatives as commander-in-chief. Even though the U.S. Constitution says that only Congress can declare war, the president can order short-term operations.
Previously, other war powers resolutions had failed to rein in the president’s military action in Venezuela.
Mr. Schumer said that because the war is increasingly unpopular amid rising gas prices, the resolution will gain more support when Congress comes back into session next week.
He likened the Trump administration’s campaign against Tehran to “one of the very worst military and foreign policy actions that the United States has ever taken.”
“Let this be a warning: If Trump starts a new war, we will be in worse shape, given his lack of planning and focus. Trump must end the war now,” Mr. Schumer said. “The only viable solution is a lasting diplomatic one. A two-week ceasefire, especially one as fragile as this, is not a strategy. It’s not a diplomatic solution. It’s not a plan. Trump needs to stop posting on the social media and start doing the hard work of building a lasting peace. Trump chose this war. He owns the consequences and next week Congress will act, has the opportunity to act, to make sure it cannot happen again.”
