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The United States’ decision to strike Iran has not only retaliated against Tehran but also drawn criticism from a Democratic lawmaker who has accused Republican President Donald Trump of breaking the law. ending military power provided by Congress.
Congress passed the resolution on Tuesday, saying the president must suspend his military action against Iran or seek congressional approval before taking action.
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Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, criticized the recent US actions in Iran, calling it a “flagrant violation” of a congressional resolution and threatened to take Trump to court over the matter.
US Central Command troops on Saturday struck an Iranian military base after Tehran accused Tehran of targeting a ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a key target of the conflict between the two countries.
In response, Tehran hit US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday as the two sides traded blows for the second time over the weekend, threatening to tear up the fragile Iran-US agreement (MoU) signed on June 15.
At this timeIsrael will continue to attack Lebanon though framework agreement signed on Friday and in the MOU calling for an end to the war in all areas, including Lebanon.
So is Trump breaking the law, and can Congress stop him from attacking Iran?
What is the 1973 War Powers Resolution?
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of an arms embargo that has lasted more than 60 days, pending Congressional approval.
The Senate on Tuesday voted for the 10th time to try to restart the war that the US and Israel launched against Tehran on February 28.
The Senate passed the resolution on a vote of 50-48 despite Trump’s Republican party having the lowest number of parties in both the House and the House of Representatives. Four Republicans voted against the resolution, which it does not bind.
The House passed the measure on June 3 by a vote of 215 to 208.
Speaking in the Senate before the vote, senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said: “For years, Mr. Trump has promised to pressure Iran, but he has delivered great confusion, great chaos, great cost to the American people with his dangerous war.”
“The American people paid the price for Trump’s mistakes in Iran. This will go down in the history books as one of the worst things America has ever done,” he said.
A war against Iran has become unpopular in the US, where less than half of the public thinks the war is worth the cost, according to an Ipsos/Reuters poll.
The vote on the resolution took place as the Pentagon also wants an increase of $ 80bn from Congress, especially for the war on Iran because it restores the weapons and reserves that were destroyed during the war.
How was the decision made, and what does it say?
Four Republicans crossed party lines to vote in favor of the Senate resolution: Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Two other Republicans, Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick, did not vote for the resolution.
The resolution “directs the President to withdraw the United States Military from the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
Unless “clearly authorized by a declaration of war or congressional authorization” Trump would be allowed to use additional military force against Iran, it says.
The decision, however, allows a small number of troops to remain in the Middle East to prevent “any attack” against the US or its allies.
Trump called the vote “untimely and meaningless” and said it “gave support and comfort” to Iran.
He criticized the Republicans who voted for the decision during an evening event at the Capitol on Wednesday. That night, Cassidy reversed his vote and Paul voted against it when the Senate rejected a similar military power resolution 47-50 in an attempt to appease the President.
Does Trump care about that?
In front of him, no.
The proposal is highly symbolic because it does not have full legal force, although it shows caution among lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate throughout the war and the MoU Trump fought with Iran to end.
Under the US Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war, but President Trump has not gone to war without Congressional approval.
Trump has commented on the incident and told the Axios Show last week that he had not learned a “lesson” about the limits of his superpowers in the Iran war. “There are no limits,” he said.
The White House also rejected the Senate’s proposal for the resolution, saying it “has no meaning” and that it was driven by the “absence of Republicans”.
“The resolution directs the President to withdraw the US military from the war against Iran. However, there is no hostility to withdrawing the US military, as the weapons ended with the cease-fire on April 7,” a White House official said on Tuesday.
However, on Friday, Trump ordered the US military to strike Iran in what his government says is a response to Tehran’s attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran has insisted that ships use only Iranian-approved routes to navigate safely. It has rejected an alternative approach off the coast of Oman that was promoted by the US.
Iran said the new attack on the US violates the agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Is Trump breaking the law?
Prior to this, no military power repeal had ever passed both chambers of Congress in Washington, DC. A 1983 Supreme Court decision said that such a process must be provided for the president to sign it into effect.
US legal expert Bruce Fein told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Trump “neglected to vote on a false and unconstitutional proposal”.
“Courts have avoided political interference,” Fein said. “But Congress can end this war by canceling the money that Trump has requested.”
Unlike previous administrations, Trump did not issue authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs), which allow the use of military force without a declaration of war. For example, after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Congress passed the AUMF which gave President George W Bush broad powers to carry out the so-called “war on terror”.
The 1973 War Powers Resolution, however, could be overturned in the courts, as threatened by Democrat Khanna.
“Trump must stop this war now – or we will take him to court to force him to do so,” Khanna wrote on X late Saturday after the US struck Iranian targets for the second day in a row.
Is the region resuming violent conflict?
Hassan Ahmadian, an associate professor at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera that the threats could lead to a major strike between the US and Iran.
“I think we are in danger because, obviously, the Iranians will retaliate,” he said.
Ahmadian said that Article 5 of the MoU states that “Iran will arrange commercial shipping” for 60 days, and after that, “Iran and Oman will arrange”.
“And now, the United States wants different arrangements to be put in place that are different from the MoU that it signed,” he said. “What we are seeing is that the United States is trying to find a way to withdraw the memorandum and force Iran to comply with the terms.”
The US will do the same to Lebanon in a new deal, he said, adding that the Iranians “will not allow this”.
