Democratic lawmakers moved swiftly Saturday to rein in President Donald Trump’s military authority after US forces struck Iran, with senior senators calling for an emergency legislative vote and condemning what several described as an act of war launched without congressional knowledge or approval.
The push centers on a war powers resolution co-authored by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who serves on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.
Kaine called the decision to attack Iran a “colossal mistake” and demanded the Senate return to session immediately to vote on the measure. He said every member of the chamber needed to go on record — his language was blunt, describing the strikes as “dangerous, unnecessary, and idiotic.”
In the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries committed Democrats to forcing a floor vote on equivalent legislation, arguing that Trump had bypassed Congress entirely before ordering what he called a massive military attack. Jeffries warned the strikes had left American troops exposed to Iranian retaliation and said the administration owed both Congress and the public an immediate explanation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pressed for a classified all-senators briefing, saying the administration had withheld critical information about the nature and immediacy of the threat that supposedly justified the operation.
He stopped short of characterising the intelligence as fabricated but made clear that lawmakers had been kept in the dark.
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The most expansive critique came from Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who warned that the strikes risked drawing the United States into a prolonged regional conflict.
Writing on X, Warner said the episode bore uncomfortable similarities to the lead-up to the Iraq war — urgency invoked, intelligence selectively presented, and military action taken before the consequences had been properly weighed.
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What has given the effort unusual traction is the defection of a small but notable group of Republican lawmakers. Representative Thomas Massie was among the most direct, writing on X that the strikes constituted “acts of war unauthorised by Congress” and declaring his opposition without qualification. “This is not America First,” he added.
In the Senate, Rand Paul — who co-sponsored Kaine’s resolution — grounded his opposition in constitutional terms rather than strategic ones. His oath, he said, was to the Constitution, and on that basis he could not support what he described as another presidential war conducted without legislative sanction.
Republicans hold a narrow Senate majority, and the resolution’s fate will depend on how many members of the caucus are willing to break with the White House. No vote had been scheduled as of Saturday.