Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, ripped Donald Trump for his military attack against Iran on Saturday, saying the move is “absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
Ocasio-Cortez ripped the president’s action on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, “The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
On the other hand, Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, came to Trump’s side and wrote on X, “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS. Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.”
If Congress wants the power to declare war back they need to repeal the war powers act.
I’m a bit confused. Isn’t the War Powers Act what gives congress the power to declare war, and the president can only do so if the US is DIRECTLY attacked? Someone more educated in US constitutional acts please correct me if I’m wrong, I know post-9/11 a lot of stuff got…“suspended in times of need”.
The war powers act makes it lawful for a president to take military action against any country, provided Congress is notified within 48 hours of that action. Then a president gets 60 days + 30 “withdrawal” to wage any war they want without congressional approval. Furthermore it’s been ruled violations are basically irrelevant if troops are gone before the matter gets to the supreme court.
Clinton and Obama both violated this law with 0 consequences. Trump might also violate the law, but we won’t know for 90 days.
I see, thank you for the explanation! I only learned about it in school within the context of Nixon and Vietnam during history class.
This is the right answer. Trump is absolutely a piece of garbage, and I think he was wrong for attacking Iran, but at this point I don’t think he’s broken any laws by attacking Iran.