Washington – Lawmakers across the political aisle offered a mixed response Saturday following President Trump’s announcement that the United States launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Immediately following Mr. Trump’s announcement, Congressional Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Ted Cruz, backed Mr. Trump after he announced in a Truth Social post that “A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”
“There is not another military in the World that could have done this,” Mr. Trump said in the post. “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Here’s what lawmakers are saying:
Some Republican lawmakers back U.S. strikes in Iran
“Good. This was the right call. The regime deserves it. Well done, President @realDonaldTrump,” Sen. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on X.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a social media post that “the military operations in Iran should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.”
“The President gave Iran’s leader every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement,” Johnson said in the post. “President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated. That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity.”
Texas Sen. Cruz, who has backed of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets, said in a statement: “As long as Iran was able to access and conduct activities at Fordow, they could still rush to build a nuclear arsenal. Tonight’s actions have gone far in foreclosing that possibility, and countering the apocalyptic threat posed by an Iranian nuclear arsenal.”
The strikes announced by Mr. Trump Saturday evening further escalated the conflict between Iran and Israel that started June 13. Mr. Trump, on Wednesday, was still mulling over whether the U.S. military would join Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran.
Before the announcement of the strikes, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia split with Mr. Trump and said, “This is not our fight.”
“Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war,” she said in a post on X. “There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first.”
Rep. Rick Crawford, Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee, praised Mr. Trump in a statement and said, “I have been in touch with the White House before this action and will continue to track developments closely with them in the coming days.”
Mr. Trump did receive pushback from Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who called the strikes “not constitutional.” Massie introduced a resolution on Tuesday to prohibit U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Some Democrats say U.S. strikes in Iran are unconstitutional
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Saturday demanded that Congress be “fully and immediately” briefed on the attacks in a classified setting.
“President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” Jeffries said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Mr. Trump’s decision to bomb Iran without Congressional authorization “is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.”
“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” the New York Democrat wrote. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been looking to limit Mr. Trump’s ability to order U.S. strikes on Iran amid its ongoing war with Israel, emphasizing that only Congress has the power to declare war under the Constitution. The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war, and the extent of the president’s authority to wade into conflict abroad without the approval of the legislative branch has been challenged in recent years.
“Dear colleagues: Don’t make another mistake in dragging our country into another war,” Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan said in a post. “You can stop the President and the war mongers in Congress by signing on to our War Powers Resolution.”
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts called on Congress to return to Washington, D.C., to vote on Massie’s legislation “to stop this madness.”
In contrast to other Congressional Democrats, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said he fully supports the U.S. strikes on Iran.
“As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” Fetterman said in a social media post. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s on a tour this weekend in red Southern states, announced the news of the U.S. attacks on Iran to his supporters and was met the chants of “no more war” from the crowd.
“It is so grossly unconstitutional,” Sanders said. “All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress. The president does not have the right.”
Caitlin Yilek and
Kaia Hubbard
contributed to this report.
