Democrats renew push to curb Trump’s Iran war as calls to use 25th amendment mount

Democrats launch bill to block Trump Iran attack as 25th amendment drive grows

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

House Democrats introduced legislation Monday to bar President Donald Trump from launching offensive military action against Iran without explicit congressional approval as party leaders signaled renewed interest in removing him under the 25th amendment.

The bill landed hours after Trump told reporters he was “ready to act” against Tehran following Israeli intelligence reports of Iranian nuclear advances, prompting 47 Democratic lawmakers to co-sponsor what they branded the “No War Against Iran Act.”

The move revives a decade-old battle over war powers that last flared when Trump ordered the 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, yet this time it comes with the president facing mounting questions about his fitness for office after a week of erratic public appearances and slurred speeches. Representative Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said members had begun “serious conversations” with cabinet officials about invoking the constitutional clause that allows the vice-president and cabinet to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

Jayapal told reporters the caucus would meet Tuesday to “map out a pathway” for gathering the simple majority needed in both chambers to sustain a 25th amendment declaration if Vice-President JD Vance moves against Trump. “We are not counselling patience any longer,” she said. “We are counselling action.”

The war powers bill, authored by Representative Ro Khanna of California, would cut off funding for “any offensive military force in or against Iran” unless Congress votes to declare war or enacts a specific authorization. The measure mirrors language that passed the House in 2019 but died in the then-Republican-controlled Senate; Democrats now hold 52 seats yet still lack the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. Khanna acknowledged the long odds but argued that even a failed vote would “force every senator to choose between the Constitution and Donald Trump’s impulse control problem.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly dismissed the effort, telling CNN that “commanders in chief don’t need permission to defend American interests.” Yet behind the scenes several GOP senators have privately expressed alarm at Trump’s recent rhetoric, including a Truth Social post that warned Iran would “cease to exist” if it moved to enrich uranium above 90 percent. One Republican aide said Senator Mitch McConnell had asked for a classified briefing on Iran “to gauge what, if anything, the president is actually planning.”

Defense Department officials confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and its strike group had been ordered to remain in the Gulf rather than rotate home, extending a deployment that began in October. The carrier’s air wing flew 18 sorties over the Strait of Hormuz in the past 48 hours, according to a CENTCOM statement that described the flights as “routine presence.” A senior naval officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tempo “felt more like surge operations than routine anything.”

Tehran responded with its own show of force, announcing that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would begin three days of coastal defense exercises involving more than 100 fast-attack boats. Iranian state television broadcast footage of missile batteries lining the shore near Bandar Abbas while commentators warned that any US strike would “turn the Persian Gulf into a graveyard of American ships.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters that Iran had “no intention of building a bomb” but would “respond decisively” to aggression, adding that European diplomats had relayed US threats through back channels in Oman.

Markets reacted nervously. Brent crude jumped $3.42 to close at $81.17 a barrel, its highest level since October, while the Dow fell 312 points as airline stocks slid on fears of jet-fuel price spikes. Analysts at ClearView Energy Partners wrote in a client note that “the risk premium is back” and predicted gasoline could hit $4 a gallon nationwide if tensions escalate further. Farmers in the Midwest complained that fertilizer prices, already swollen by Trump’s 2025 tariffs on Moroccan phosphate, were climbing again on energy-linked production costs.

Inside the White House, staff struggled to coordinate messaging. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz issued a memo urging cabinet secretaries to “avoid speculative commentary” on Iran, yet Trump himself undercut the directive by calling into Fox & Friends to claim that “the Israelis gave us a green light, whatever that means.” The remark prompted a rare public correction from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which stated that “Israel supports American leadership, not American adventurism.”

Vice-President Vance cancelled a planned trip to New Hampshire and instead met Monday evening with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to three aides who were not authorized to discuss the private session. The trio reviewed contingency plans for evacuating the embassy in Baghdad if Iranian-backed militias stage reprisals, the aides said, and discussed whether to accelerate delivery of 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs that Israel requested last month.

Democratic leaders are weighing two legislative tracks: the Khanna war powers bill and a separate resolution under the 1973 War Powers Act that would require Trump to withdraw any troops deployed against Iran within 30 days unless Congress authorizes the mission. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the caucus could file the latter as a “privileged resolution,” forcing a floor vote within 15 legislative days. “We have procedural weapons,” she told MSNBC. “We intend to use them.”

Background

Congress has not declared war since 1942, but presidents have launched major military operations in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq under expansive interpretations of their Article II authority. The 1973 War Powers Act sought to reclaim authority by requiring presidents to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing troops into hostilities and to withdraw them after 60 days unless lawmakers authorize the action. Every administration since Richard Nixon has argued the statute is unconstitutional, and no president has acknowledged its 60-day clock.

Tensions with Iran have flared repeatedly since Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions that now cover 80 percent of the Iranian economy. The Soleimani strike in January 2020 pushed the two countries to the brink when Iran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq, injuring more than 100 American service members. Diplomatic channels have remained largely closed since, with intermittent talks in Oman failing to revive even limited compliance with the nuclear deal.

What’s Next

The House Rules Committee will meet Wednesday to decide whether to grant the Khanna bill expedited consideration, setting up a potential floor vote by Friday. In the Senate, Democrats need 9 Republicans to join them to break a filibuster, a threshold they have never reached on war powers legislation, but party whips say at least 4 GOP senators remain undecided. Separately, Vice-President Vance has 72 hours to respond if cabinet officials submit a written declaration that Trump is unfit, a scenario that would require support from 14 of 24 cabinet members and later majority approval in both chambers.

Even if neither effort succeeds, the dual-track campaign ensures that every military move Trump makes will face immediate scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where Democrats vow to haul defense officials before public hearings and subpoena any war plans. “The guardrails are off,” said Senator Chris Murphy, who leads the Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Middle East. “Our job now is to rebuild them before it’s too late.”