Politico | Donald Trump vetoes bill to curtail his Iran war-making authority
- President recently threatened retaliation after Iranian vessels harassed US ships in Persian Gulf
- War powers resolution now heads back to Senate for vote to override Trump’s veto
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Connor O’Brien on politico.com on May 6, 2020.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed a congressional resolution to block military action against Iran amid a new spike in tensions in the Middle East.
Trump's rejection of legislative efforts to limit his war powers comes just weeks after Iranian vessels harassed US ships in the Persian Gulf and the president threatened retaliation against Iranian ships.
The war powers resolution was passed in March, but was not formally sent to the White House until just this week because Congress has been out of session due to the coronavirus. It was the first Iran-related measure to reach Trump's desk after months of false starts on legislation that would require Congress to sign off on military action against Iran.
In a statement announcing the veto, Trump derided the measure and the Republicans who broke ranks to support it, arguing “Congress should not have passed this resolution.”
“This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party,” Trump said. “The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.”
“The resolution implies that the president’s constitutional authority to use military force is limited to defence of the United States and its forces against imminent attack. That is incorrect,” the president added.
“We live in a hostile world of evolving threats, and the Constitution recognises that the president must be able to anticipate our adversaries’ next moves and take swift and decisive action in response. That’s what I did!”
US has gunships ready to deliver on Trump’s warning to Iran
The resolution, sponsored by Senator Tim Kaine now heads back to the Senate for a vote to override Trump’s veto.
But lawmakers are not likely to muster the two-thirds majority required in both the Senate and House to overcome the veto. Few Republicans on Capitol Hill have been willing to buck Trump's authority over Iran policy.
The resolution cleared the House on March 11, with just six Republicans voting in favour. The Senate in February passed the resolution with the support of eight Republicans.
Democrats and a handful of Republicans first sought last year to head off conflict with Iran as tensions ratcheted up in the Middle East.
Those efforts gained renewed urgency in January when Trump ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force. Iran retaliated with missile strikes against US military bases in Iraq.
A March 11 rocket attack in Iraq blamed on Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia militia, also killed US and British service members at Camp Taji. A US and British air strike the next day targeted five of the group's weapons sites in Iraq.
Tensions reignited in mid-April as Iranian boats came dangerously close to US Navy and coastguard ships in the northern Persian Gulf.
Trump tweeted a week later that he ordered the Navy to “shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea”. The vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General John Hyten, said the tweet amounted to a warning to Iran.
The legislation calls for an end to military hostilities against Iran without congressional authorisation.
