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Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine (Virginia) has suggested that lawmakers may sue President Donald Trump if he attempts to “restart” the U.S. war on Iran — a threat that comes as the war appears to have amped up in recent days.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed War Powers Act resolutions intended to restrict Trump from continuing the war (although the Senate voted to rescind its resolution shortly after it passed). Trump launched the unprovoked war on February 28, meaning it has gone on well beyond the 60- and 90-day period that the War Powers Act allows such a conflict to last without congressional approval.
The White House claims these resolutions are nonbinding. But some Democrats say otherwise, suggesting that one or both resolutions that were passed could be used in a lawsuit against the administration seeking to end the war.
“If Trump does restart the war, I think you’ll see people in court right away saying Congress has passed war powers. Both houses have declared the war is illegal,” Kaine told Punchbowl News.
Kaine is not the only Democrat suggesting as much. Late last month, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-New York) made the same argument, claiming the measures are “binding under the War Powers Resolution.”
“I will explore all legal avenues to ensure the executive complies with the will of Congress,” Meeks said.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) has also said the votes legally compel Trump to end the war — and that Democrats should be prepared to take the issue to court.
“Trump must stop this war now, or we will take him to court to compel him to do so,” Khanna said.
But Kaine’s threat to block Trump from restarting the war ignores the fact that the war has essentially restarted already. Earlier this week, the president claimed that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Iran and the U.S. — a temporary truce that was in place while a larger deal was negotiated — was “over.” And in the past two days, the U.S. has engaged in over 170 attacks on Iranian targets, while Iran has struck areas important to U.S. interests in the region.
The MOU was a tepid agreement at best, as skirmishes between the two countries continued throughout its short lifespan.
It’s unclear whether Democrats will follow through with their threats to file a lawsuit to halt the war, given that the party made similar threats in late April, when the 60-day War Powers deadline was reached. At that time, Democratic lawmakers reportedly met privately to discuss filing a lawsuit, only for those talks to fizzle out.
Polling demonstrates that most Americans want the war to end as soon as possible, with a CBS News/YouGov poll from mid-June showing nearly 8 in 10 respondents, 78 percent, calling for an immediate end to the conflict. Only 22 percent want the conflict to continue “until Iran gives up more,” the survey found.
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