Democrats lash out at ‘erratic’ Trump over Iran strikes, demand vote to rein in war powers
Members of Senate and House argue that US intelligence has not shown an imminent threat from Iran that justifies Trump’s unilateral action
Democrats bristled on Sunday over US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch air strikes on Iran without seeking authorisation from Congress, accusing the Republican of violating the constitution and demanding a vote to rein in his war powers.
Democrats were divided between those demanding a vote on a war powers resolution to constrain Trump’s authority to launch further action and a smaller group, who maintained that the strikes were grounds for the Republican leader’s impeachment.
They included Illinois moderate Sean Casten and New York leftist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who accused the president of having “impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations”.
Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House respectively, said Trump had “dramatically increased” America’s risk of becoming embroiled in a new Middle Eastern conflagration.
“No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy,” Schumer said.