House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Monday that Congress passing a war powers resolution to limit President Donald Trump's authority to take further military action against Iran is a "frightening prospect."
War powers resolutions in the House and Senate are expected to come up for votes this week, although they face an uphill fight to become law.
The measures had been scheduled for debate before Saturday's joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Now that military operations are underway, it is unclear how a resolution that passes would immediately alter the situation.
Even if approved by Congress, any measure would likely face a Trump veto.
The House version, sponsored by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., would require congressional authorization before Trump could use military force against Iran again.
Massie has argued the operation puts U.S. troops at risk and is not emblematic of an "America First" agenda. The resolution is expected to reach the floor Thursday, according to The Hill.
"I think the idea that we would move a war powers act vote right now, I mean, it will be forced to the floor, but the idea that we would take the ability of our commander in chief, the president, take his authority away right now to finish this job, is a frightening prospect to me," Johnson told reporters after receiving a briefing on the operation.
"It's dangerous, and I am certainly hopeful, and I believe we do have the votes to put it down. That's going to be a good thing for the country and our security and stability."
In the Senate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is the lead sponsor of a separate war powers resolution, which has 13 co-sponsors. Kaine has criticized the administration's actions and questioned their legality.
"The Constitution says we're not supposed to be at war without a vote of Congress," Kaine told NPR on Saturday. "The White House knew that I had a war powers resolution scheduled for vote by the Senate early next week.
"I assume they wanted to try to rush the initiation of an illegal war before Congress had a chance to vote on it.
"This is important. The lives of our troops are at risk. We ought to come back to Washington right away and vote on this."
Johnson said Trump "was acting well within his authority."
"It's not a declaration of war. It's not something that the president was required, because it's defensive in nature and in design and in necessity, to come to Congress and get a vote first," he said. "And if they had briefed a larger group than the Gang of Eight, you know, there's a real threat that that very sensitive intelligence that we had, you know, might have been leaked or something."
The Gang of Eight includes the leaders of each party in the House and Senate, along with the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
"So, this is why the commander in chief of our armed forces has the latitude that any commander in chief, any president always has, because they have a set of information that is sensitive, timely and urgent, and they have to be able to act upon it. They did that," Johnson said.
As of last week, the House measure appeared unlikely to pass given strong Republican opposition.
At least two Democrats, Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida, both close allies of Israel, had expressed opposition before the strikes, according to The Hill. It remains unclear whether their positions have changed.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., another staunch ally of Israel, has voiced strong support for Trump's military actions. He wrote Saturday on X that he is a "hard no" on any war powers resolution.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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