Trump pushes Iran sanctions, Senate to vote on war powers

In a live, televised address to the nation on Wednesday, President Donald Trump responded to missile attacks by Iran on U.S. military sites in Iraq by announcing tougher sanctions, vowing that Iran will never get nuclear weapons, and praising his administration’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, claiming that U.S. military power is an effective deterrent. 

Trump noted that there were no casualties from the recent missile attacks and, most notably, did not announce a plan to make further attacks on Iran, which was retaliating for the U.S. assasination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani last week.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin announced her support for a war powers resolution introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) to force a debate and vote in Congress to prevent further escalation of hostilities with Iran. A companion resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and is expected to be voted on by the House this week.

 “The American people are sick and tired of sending young men and women to war in the Middle East,” Baldwin said in a statement. “The Constitution is very clear that only Congress has the authority to declare war and I support Senator Kaine’s resolution to ensure that President Trump comes to Congress first before pursuing any military action against Iran and starting another war in the Middle East.”

 The resolution points out that only Congress has the power to declare war under the Constitution, and requires that further military action in Iran be authorized by a Congressional declaration of war.