Funny, because I don’t remember Democrats trying to do the same when Biden was bombing Syria and the Houthis in Yemen. Or Obama with Syria, Libya, and more. But, you know, Trump
Senate shuts down Kaine’s attempt to check Trump’s war powers
A Senate Democrat’s push to put a check on President Donald Trump’s powers and reaffirm the Senate’s war authority was shut down by lawmakers in the upper chamber Thursday.
Sen. Tim Kaine’s war powers resolution, which would have required Congress to debate and vote on whether the president could declare war, or strike Iran, was struck down in the Senate on a largely party-line vote, save for Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., a staunch advocate of Israel who supported Trump’s strike on the Islamic Republic, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been vocal in his thoughts about congressional war powers in recent days.
Earlier in the week, the Virginia Democrat vowed to move ahead with the resolution despite a fragile ceasefire brokered between Israel and Iran following weekend strikes on the Islamic Republic’s key nuclear facilities that were not given the green-light by Congress.
Kaine argued that the ceasefire gave his resolution more credence and breathing room to properly debate the role that Congress plays when it comes to authorizing both war and attacks abroad.
He said ahead of the vote on the Senate floor that he came to Washington to ensure that the country does not again get into another “unnecessary” war, and invoked the rush to approve war powers for President George W. Bush over two decades ago to engage with Iraq.
Yeah, lots of those Democrat Senators never had a problem when Obama embroiled the U.S. in Libya. And, the resolution is hilarious, since Trump basically bombed the bejesus out of Iran’s nuclear sites and then stopped. And got a ceasefire. And lambasted both Iran and Israel when it was broken. And is working to get a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. And got a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda.
Indeed, his resolution became a focal point for a debate that has raged on Capitol Hill since Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran: whether the strikes like those carried out during Operation Midnight Hammer constituted an act of war that required congressional approval, or if Trump’s decision was under his constitutional authority as commander in chief.
One none of these Democrats cared about under Obama or Biden. And the War Powers Resolution of 1973 gives POTUS the ability to engage in military operations like just occurred against Iran.
McConnell used instances where Democratic presidents over the last three decades have used their authority for limited engagements in Kosovo, Libya, Syria and Yemen, and questioned why “isolationists” would consider the strike on Iran to kneecap its nuclear program a mistake.
“I have not heard the frequent flyers on War Powers resolutions reckon seriously with these questions,” he said. “Until they do, efforts like this will remain divorced from both strategic and constitutional reality.”
In other words, you can’t have a hissy fit when Trump does it but not when Democrats do it.
