Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair, General Dan Caine testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hegseth and Caine attempted to defend President Trump’s $87.6 billion supplemental funding request for the ongoing U.S. war with Iran. The meeting was quite testy. Various Senators accused Hegseth of mismanagement of the war on several fronts. The hearing revealed several important contradictions in this war. The most obvious contradiction is that this war lacks the authorization of Congress.
Our nation’s founders, when they wrote our Constitution, made it abundantly clear that it is our Congress, not the President, who has the responsibility to declare war on foreign nations. They did not believe that one person, not even a president, should have the authority to lead us into a deadly war. If the president, as Commander in Chief, takes our country into an international conflict, he needs to get Congressional authorization for the use of the military through a War Powers Resolution.
A month ago, Congress tried to reassert its constitutional authority over military engagements by passing a resolution (H.Con.Res. 86) which directed Trump to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran. The resolution was agreed to by both chambers of Congress on June 23. Nevertheless, it was passed as a “concurrent resolution” which means it does NOT carry the force of law. Its primary purpose is to express Congress’s position and attempt to influence executive action under the War Powers Resolution framework. Just this morning, the House of Representatives passed a stronger resolution in which four Republican Representatives joined Democrats in voting for the bill.
Why are very compliant Republicans in Congress finally beginning to break ranks with President Trump over the war? The simple and true answer is that the war is not popular with the American people. Recent polls indicate that less than 30% of our citizens support the war. Its objectives were never presented to the public. Was it regime change? Was it to prohibit Iran from ever developing uranium based nuclear weapons? (By the way, didn’t Trump “obliterate” all of Iran’s uranium last summer?) Opening the Strait of Hormuz was NOT an original objective, because the Strait was not closed at the beginning of the war.
A most powerful reason is economical. Gasoline prices are again above $4 per gallon. Brent Crude oil passed $100 a barrel last night.
We need to continue to shine the light of truth wherever it is needed.
Lindy Scott 