Congressional reaction to President Trump’s sweeping military operation in Iran largely fell along party lines, with Democrats outraged over the lack of congressional authorization and notification. At the same time, Republicans praised the president’s decisive actions against Iran’s hardline regime.
The U.S. and Israel launched a massive joint military operation against Iran early Saturday morning to propel regime change after decades of unyielding Islamic rule in Tehran — the U.S.’s most sweeping American military operation in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Mr. Trump said in a video statement.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, recommended erring on the side of caution for the “deeply consequential” wide-ranging military strikes inside Iran.
Even though Iran’s leadership has “long supported terrorism,” this does not “relieve any president of the responsibility to act within the law, with a clear strategy, and with Congress,” the Virginia senator said.
“By the president’s own words, ‘American heroes may be lost.’ That alone should have demanded the highest level of scrutiny, deliberation, and accountability, yet the president moved forward without seeking congressional authorization,” he said. “Congress must be fully briefed, and the administration must come forward with a clear legal justification, a defined end state, and a plan that avoids dragging the United States into yet another costly and unnecessary war.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the “world’s largest sponsor of terror” cannot have nuclear weapons capabilities — echoing the president’s message he made at the State of the Union Tuesday.
“I know President Trump has to make some of the most difficult decisions imaginable and there is no decision more serious [than] military action to protect our national security and American lives,” the New York Republican said.
GOP Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, commended Mr. Trump’s “decisive action to restore stability to a region that has lacked it for far too long.”
Democrats pointed to the congressional war powers in the Constitution, condemning the lack of insight and transparency rather than the strikes against Iran.
Sen. Edward Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, called the military attack flat-out “illegal and unconstitutional” as it was not approved by Congress.
“Trump’s illegal actions raise the threat of escalation into a wider regional war with grave risks for U.S. troops and civilians in the region,” he said.
He said that Mr. Trump has “exaggerated the imminence of Iran’s nuclear threat,” even after “insisting” the U.S. wiped Iran’s nuclear program clean during Operation Midnight Hammer — a 2025 attack that “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries questioned why the U.S. would strike now — let alone without congressional approval — if the previous operation was successful.
“The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately, provide an ironclad justification for this act of war, clearly define the national security objective and articulate a plan to avoid another costly, prolonged military quagmire in the Middle East,” the New York Democrat said.
Both he and Mr. Markey called for a diplomatic solution as opposed to another war in the Middle East.
“Instead, the President’s decision to abandon diplomacy and launch a massive military attack has left American troops vulnerable to Iran’s retaliatory actions,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Democrat Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called for an immediate congressional briefing, warning of extensive backlash from Iran.
In response to Saturday morning’s attack, Iran appears to have launched a major counterattack across the Middle East.
Mr. Markey called on Congress to “immediately” vote on the bipartisan War Powers Resolution, which intends to check the president’s power to commit the U.S. to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress.
