The US enters Israeli-Iran conflict and attacks three Iranian nuclear sites
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that US forces have attacked three Iranian locations, taking part in the effort to behead Israel’s nuclear program with dangerous gambits, weakening longtime enemies amid the threat of lepractics that could cause conflict in the wider region.
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President Donald Trump’s decision to order US airstrikes at three Iranian nuclear sites on June 22 raised immediate questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle whether he acted in his authority.
Under Trump’s direction, the United States is effectively participating in the war that began 10 days ago when Israel began bombing Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure. The president previously said that he did not want to be involved in conflicts in the Middle East, but that “Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.”
Some lawmakers, including stubborn conservatives and well-known progressives, call the move a violation of the constitution.
“The president’s tragic decision to bomb Iran without approval is a serious violation of the constitution and the powers of parliament in war,” D-New York’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a post on X.
The Constitution places the power to declare war at the hands of Congress, and the war power of 1973 requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action. The law also limits the deployment of military forces for more than 90 days without a formal declaration of war.
Asked at a Pentagon press conference when Congress noticed a strike on June 22, Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, allegedly, “we were notified after the plane was released safely. But we complied with the War Powers Act notification requirements.”
R-Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie responded to Trump’s social media bragging about the attacks in Iran in a statement saying, “This is not the constitution.”
California’s Massy and Democrat Locanna have submitted measures based on the War Forces Act on June 17, seeking to block “illegal hostility” in Iran.
“Stop Iran from having a nuclear bomb is a top priority, but dragging the US into another Middle East war is not the solution,” Kanna said in a statement. “Trump’s strike is unconstitutional and puts Americans, especially our troops, at risk.”
Some of Trump’s strongest supporters have also warned against foreign conflicts.
“Every time America is on the crisis of greatness, we are involved in another foreign war,” Senator Marjorie Taylor Green wrote in a post just before the US bombing.
Contribution: Kim Hujelmgaard, USA Today
