Kaine files Iran war powers measure as Trump weighs strikes
Sen. Tim Kaine has filed legislation that would restrict military action against Iran, possibly forcing a vote on the issue as President Donald Trump weighs strikes against Tehran.
The latest: The bipartisan war powers resolution — which the Virginia Democrat co-sponsored with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — was filed Thursday, according to the Congressional Record, although the full text of the legislation wasn’t immediately available.
Its introduction allows the sponsors to try to force a vote in the coming weeks that puts senators on the record about a potential clash with Tehran.
War over war powers: The resolution — should it advance — is the latest congressional challenge to Trump's aggressive foreign policy actions, including a military raid this month that captured former Venezuelan President Nicholás Maduro.
Kaine and other advocates of clawing back expansive presidential war powers have said they plan to trigger votes on other nations Trump has floated military action against — including Iran, Greenland, Mexico and Cuba.
Republicans will likely try to defeat any effort to rein in Trump on Iran. They took similar action last year after Kaine forced a vote following U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Administration officials, in January, flipped enough skeptical Senate Republicans to scuttle a measure to require Congress to sign off on future attacks against Venezuela.
Renewed Iran tensions: Trump has threatened force in recent weeks against the regime after it responded violently to widespread anti-government protests.
The president, in a Truth Social post Wednesday, urged Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program. He noted a "massive Armada" in the region led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was now in striking distance.
Kaine, in a statement Friday to POLITICO, argued lawmakers should weigh in on a potential regional conflict.
“With President Trump threatening military action against Iran for various reasons and dispatching U.S. troops to the region," Kaine said, "we believe Congress needs to be ready to assert its constitutional responsibilities before the U.S. launches yet another war in the Middle East."