President Trump’s decision to strike Iran without congressional authorization and little consultation has divided Congress and deepened rifts inside both parties, touching off a searing debate over the role of the military and how much power the legislative branch should wield over the use of American forces.
Some leading Democrats have reacted with outrage at Mr. Trump’s unilateral authorization, calling it an unconstitutional overstepping of his authority and demanding a briefing and a swift vote on whether to approve any further military action in Iran. Top Republicans, who have rushed to cede congressional power to the president at the start of his term, have instead called the strikes on Iran justified and appropriate, arguing that Congress should have no say in the matter.
“The commander in chief has Article II responsibilities,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Monday, referring to the section of the Constitution covering presidential power.
Voicing strong opposition to voting on a bipartisan measure to reassert Congress’s war powers, he continued: “They’re very serious and important, especially in times like this. I think he used that authority judiciously.”
He dismissed the resolution, sponsored by Representatives Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, as “all politics,” signaling that he was not inclined to allow their bid to force a vote on the military strikes. And he noted that presidents of both parties had undertaken significant military actions without congressional approval, often with little pushback from their allies on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Johnson’s comments came just after Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, signaled support for such a vote and castigated Mr. Trump for his lack of consultation with Congress. He also claimed that the administration still had not given top leaders the customary classified briefing that accompanies such military operations.
“The use of military force which is offensive in nature must be approved by the House and the Senate,” Mr. Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said during a news conference at the Capitol. “It’s not optional, Donald. It’s not.”
Lawmakers have seen “no evidence to date” that the strikes on Iran were justified under the law, or that there was an “imminent threat” to the United States, Mr. Jeffries said, adding: “If the administration has evidence to the contrary, come up to present it.”
But the divides over Mr. Trump’s strikes on Iran defy party lines. Some senior Democrats praised the action as a justified and necessary response to a grave threat from Iran, while anti-interventionist Republicans on the political right criticized it as a betrayal of the president’s campaign promise to keep the United States out of endless wars abroad.
“This is not constitutional,” Mr. Massie, who is a frequent Trump antagonist and one of the loudest Republican critics on the issue, wrote on social media shortly after the strikes. Mr. Trump on Monday lashed out at Mr. Massie, accusing him of betraying the MAGA movement, which he claimed “doesn’t respect him.”
Two of Mr. Trump’s top political advisers have begun a campaign to unseat Mr. Massie, who is in his seventh term, according to Axios.
In a radio interview on Monday, Mr. Massie suggested the threats were aimed at deterring other Republicans from breaking ranks.
“He’s attacked me before; I don’t change my positions,” Mr. Massie told WBT 1110 AM in Charlotte, N.C. “What he’s trying to do is keep the other Republicans cowering.”
For the most part, it appears to be working. Few Republicans have joined him in criticizing the strikes. The most vocal has been Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has refrained from directly attacking Mr. Trump, but blamed “neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts, and neocon TV personalities” for influencing a decision she denounced.
“Only six months in and we are back into foreign wars, regime change, and World War III,” Ms. Greene wrote on social media Monday. Still, she has not indicated any plans to support the war powers resolution.
Democrats, too, are divided. Several senior members of the party have called the strike unconstitutional and complained that they were not told about the operation and still have yet to be briefed.
“Congress is now on Day 10 of not receiving any formal briefing from the administration or having any information to provide Americans who are in harm’s way,” Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware said in a joint statement on Monday that called for de-escalation and diplomacy.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, also issued a statement demanding a classified briefing in the wake of Iran’s counterattack on Monday on an American base in Qatar, saying: “The law requires the Trump administration to consult with Congress. The Constitution demands it. And the American people — especially the families of those in harm’s way — deserve nothing less.”
He and other Democrats have said they back a bid led by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has long advocated curbing executive authority in military matters, to reassert congressional war powers.
Mr. Kaine is spearheading a Senate effort to revoke decades-old authorizations of military force and require a formal vote before any further military action against Iran. His measure could come up for a vote within days over special procedures that require such resolutions to be acted upon quickly.
But some Democrats have refrained from criticizing the Iran operation and even offered praise for Mr. Trump’s move.
During an interview on Fox News on Monday, Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, backed the strike and dismissed constitutional concerns.
“I think it was entirely appropriate,” he said. “It really wasn’t about unconstitutional, or anything like that. It was a very, very limited military engagement, and then it took them out, damaged them severely.”
Representative Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, echoed that sentiment, calling the operation “essential to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.” In a statement, Mr. Hoyer noted that every American president since Jimmy Carter has asserted that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable and that the United States must be prepared to act to prevent it.
Megan Mineiro contributed reporting.
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