Congress seeks Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump led the United States into war without a congressional vote of support, but lawmakers are increasingly wondering when, how and at what cost the war with Iran will end.
Three weeks after the conflict, the price becomes evident. At least 13 US service members have been killed and more than 230 have been wounded. A request for $200 billion from the Pentagon for war funds is pending at the White House. Allies are under attack, oil prices are soaring, and thousands of American troops are deploying to the Middle East with no end in sight.
“The real question is: What are we ultimately trying to achieve?” Sen. Thom Tillis, R.N.C., told The News.
“In general, I support anything that eliminates the mullahs,” he said. “But at the end of the day, there has to be some sort of strategic articulation of the strategy, what our goals are.”
Trump said Friday night that he was considering “ending” military operations, even as he outlined new objectives and goals.
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Congress stops
The Republican president’s decision to launch a US-Israel-led war against Iran is testing the resolve of Congress, which is controlled by his party. Republicans have largely supported the commander in chief, but will soon face bigger wartime decisions.
Under the War Powers Act, the president can conduct military operations for 60 days without congressional approval. So far, Republicans have easily rejected several Democratic resolutions designed to stop the military campaign.
But the administration will need to show a more comprehensive strategy going forward or risk a setback from Congress, lawmakers said, especially as they are simultaneously asked to approve billions in new spending.
Trump’s joke that the war will end “when I feel it in my bones” has generated alarm.
“When you feel it in your bones? That’s crazy,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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The president of the House of Representatives says that the mission is “practically finished”
It seems unlikely that the president’s party will challenge him directly, even as the conflict drags on. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said the military operation will end quickly.
“I think the original mission has pretty much been accomplished now,” Johnson, R-Louisiana, told the AP and others on Capitol Hill this week.
“We were trying to eliminate ballistic missiles and their means of production, and neutralize the navy, and those objectives were met,” he said.
Johnson acknowledged that Iran’s ability to threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz is “stretching it a bit,” especially since U.S. allies have largely rejected the president’s request for help.
“As soon as we get some calm in the situation, I think everything will be done,” Johnson said.
But the administration’s stated goals — ending Iran’s ability to obtain a nuclear weapon and degrading its ballistic missile supplies, among others — have stumped lawmakers as shifting and elusive.
″Regime change? Not likely. Get rid of enriched uranium? Not without boots on the ground,” Warner said.
“If I were advising the president, I would have told him: Before we wage a war of choice, make it clear to the American people what our goals are,” he said.
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Congress retains the power of money
The Pentagon has told the White House that it is seeking an additional $200 billion for the war effort, an extraordinary amount that is unlikely to gain support. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the amount “absurd.”
The Defense Department’s congressionally approved appropriations this year exceed $800 billion, and Trump’s tax break bill gave the Pentagon an additional $150 billion over the next few years for various improvements and projects.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said the country has other priorities.
“How about we don’t defund Medicaid, which will affect millions of people? How about we make sure SNAP is funded?” he said, referring to health care and food assistance programs that were cut as part of last year’s Republican tax cuts.
“These are things we should do for the American people,” he said.
Many lawmakers have recalled President George W. Bush’s decision, after the attacks of September 11, 2001, to go to Congress to ask for authorization for the use of military force – a vote to support his proposals for military action in Afghanistan and later in Iraq.
Tillis said Trump has freedom under the War Powers Act to carry out the military campaign, but that will soon change.
“When you get to the 45-day mark, you have to start articulating one of two things: an authorization for the use of military force to sustain it beyond that or a very clear path out,” he said.
“Those are really the options that the administration needs to think about.”
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