WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Lawmakers are hopeful the attacks between the United States and Iran are over, but the House is still planning to vote on limiting President Donald Trump’s power to take military action without congressional approval.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Trump should have consulted Congress before ordering the airstrike, which killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
“The administration conducted a provocative disproportionate airstrike against Iran,” Pelosi said.
Senator Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, agrees, saying the concerns should be discussed ahead of time, not after the fact.
“You have to have a resolution like this to constrain the actions of the administration,” Casey said. “If this administration wants to take us to war or take us in the direction of war, these issues have to be debated.”
The War Powers Resolution would prohibit Trump from taking any further military action involving Iran unless he notifies Congress immediately or obtains authorization.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, said this is what the Founding Fathers intended.
“They understood the danger of giving too much power to one person,” Gillibrand said.
But some Republicans have an issue with language in the resolution, which they say attacks Trump directly.
“This is about presidential authority and congressional responsibility,” Congressman Tom Reed, R-New York, said. “If we can avoid these personal attacks on the president and others, I think it would serve all our interest better.”
