Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday that it was “unconstitutional” for President Trump to launch a military strike against Iran without congressional approval.
Mr. Kaine, Virginia Democrat and a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said Mr. Trump cannot rely on the 2001 Authorization of Military Force, which was enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and he expects Congress to vote on a new AUMF this week.
“We will have all members of the Senate have to declare whether or not the U.S. should be at war with Iran,” Mr. Kaine said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It is unconstitutional for a president to initiate a war like this without Congress. Every member of Congress needs to vote on this.”
U.S. forces bombed three Iranian nuclear sites Saturday. The Trump administration’s action pushed the U.S. into another Middle East conflict, as Washington joined Israel in a military campaign against Tehran.
Mr. Kaine said Iran was not close to having a nuclear weapon and “there was no imminent threat to the United States from this nuclear program.
The White House, the president’s allies on Capitol Hill and some constitutional scholars have argued that the 2001 AUMF does cover Mr. Trump’s actions, and that President Barack Obama leaned on the law before attacking Libya without a declaration of war.
“Many of the politicians and pundits who supported (or remained silent on) the action of President Barack Obama are now appalled that President Trump is considering an attack on the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow, which is buried deep in a mountain,” John Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said in an op-ed in The Hill.
Mr. Turley highlighted how then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dismissed the need to get the green light from Congress.
He said a precedent has been set that favors Mr. Trump’s argument that he has the authority to commit troops unilaterally.
“Whereas Kaine and others insist that there has been no attack by Iran on the U.S., Trump can cite the fact that Iran has killed or wounded thousands of Americans directly or through surrogates, including attacks on U.S. shipping through its Houthi proxy forces in Yemen,” Mr. Turley said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, defended Mr. Trump’s move, saying the president “evaluated that the imminent danger outweighed the time it would take for Congress to act.”
Mr. Kaine has been pushing for a new AUMF. He introduced a war powers resolution directing the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces for “hostilities” against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a congressional declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.
The senator could force a vote on it soon.
