Members of Congress in both parties welcomed President Trump’s announcement Tuesday night of cease-fire between the United States and Iran, but Democrats continued to raise grave questions about the path forward after weeks of war without congressional authorization.
“I’m glad Trump backed off his threat to wipe out a whole civilization and is searching for an offramp from his ridiculous bluster,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said in a statement late Tuesday.
Republican leaders, who have proceeded with a two-week congressional recess despite the war and a partial government shutdown, were mostly mum on Mr. Trump’s abrupt de-escalation, as they were about a social media post Tuesday morning in which he had threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not accede to his demands by nightfall.
House Speaker Mike Johnson reposted the president’s social media message announcing the cease-fire Tuesday night without commenting on it.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and one of the most outspoken supporters of the war effort, praised the diplomatic agreement, though he also appeared to lay out conditions for a U.S. withdrawal.
“Every ounce of the approximately 900 lbs. of highly enriched uranium has to be controlled by the U.S. and removed from Iran to prevent them in the future from having a dirty bomb or returning to the enrichment business,” he said in a social media post. “Like everyone, I hope we can end the reign of terror of the Iranian regime through diplomacy.”
Democrats, however, raised concerns about what would happen next.
“De-escalation is a long-overdue step after over a month of war without a clear purpose and with mounting costs for the American people,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
“I remain deeply concerned that U.S. actions may have incentivized Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon,” she added. “None of this makes Americans safer or our people better off.”
Other Democrats were sharply critical.
“This statement changes nothing,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, said in a statement. “The president has threatened a genocide against the Iranian people and is continuing to leverage that threat. He has launched a massive war of enormous risk and of catastrophic consequence without reason, rationale, nor congressional authorization — which is as clear a violation of the Constitution as any.”
Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had been among the only Republicans in the Senate to criticize the president’s threat of wiping out Iranian civilization ahead of the cease-fire. A handful more in the House raised concerns about the possibility that the United States would carry out escalating strikes against civilian infrastructure targets.
But after Mr. Trump’s announcement, more G.O.P. lawmakers surfaced to cheer the turnabout.
Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, called it an example of Mr. Trump’s “peace through strength” approach.
“I’m grateful for President Trump’s unwavering dedication to defending our country and holding our adversaries accountable,” Mr. Cramer said.
Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, said the cease-fire announcement was “a strong first step toward holding Iran accountable” and presented leaders in Tehran with a chance to “do the right thing.”
Robert Jimison covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on defense issues and foreign policy.
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