The House and Senate passed an Iran War Powers Resolution on February 13th after President Trump
protected the country in a strike against an Iranian military commander. The drone strike killed top
commander, Qasem Soleimani, at the airport in Baghdad in January.
Soleimani’s IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) have killed more than 600 American soldiers and he
was a terrorist responsible for many deaths across the Middle East.
Not wanting the president to be in charge of anything, including the defense of our country, Democrats in
the House (and three Republicans) voted in January to limit Trump’s powers to keep us safe from
terrorism. Eight Senate Republicans joined in to pass the legislation. Those senators were Rand Paul,
Mike Lee, Lamar Alexander, Jerry Moran, Susan Collins, Todd Young, Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy.
Before the War Powers Resolution was passed by the Senate, the president had tweeted, “It is very
important for our country’s security that the United States Senate not vote for the Iran War Powers
Resolution…if my hands were tied, Iran would have a field day.”
The resolution “directs the president to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities
against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, unless explicitly authorized bya declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.”
It includes a provision that says no part of the resolution shall be construed to prevent the U.S. from
defending itself from imminent attack.
The bill was held at the desk on February 14th which means it wasn’t sent to the President because they
knew he would veto it.
So the Democrats were just waiting for the right moment to bring it up again. A time when the voters might
be distracted by something and they can slip it past them.
Hey – what about a time where is the potential death and economic destruction of the American people
from the coronavirus? That seems like the right time.
On Wednesday of last week, the House Democrats decided to reconsider the bill and it will be on the way
to the president soon.
On Tuesday, The White House issued a threat that Trump would veto the bill, saying it would “undermine
the ability of the United States to protect American citizens whom Iran continues to seek to harm.”
A two-thirds vote in the House and Senate would be needed to override Trump’s veto and that doesn’t
look very likely.
It doesn’t seem to matter to the Democrats that they have no chance of winning this fight. Now is not the
time for unity. Now is the time for partisanship and PR moves to help the Democrats in an election year.