Trump threats to Iran prompt Democrats to seek votes on war powers resolutions

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s recent bellicose statements on Iran — including threats to obliterate its civilization — are reviving a push by congressional Democrats to force a war powers resolution vote next week as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raise concerns about the president’s rhetoric around the war.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said when Congress returns from recess next week Senate Democrats will again seek a war powers resolution vote that would require congressional approval for further military action in Iran, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said they will look to force a vote next Thursday on a war powers resolution previously introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat.

The push comes after the commander in chief fired off a series of controversial social media posts over the past week, including an expletive-laden Easter Sunday missive demanding Iran open the Strait of Hormuz or face bombardment of civilian infrastructure including power plants and bridges. On Tuesday, Trump warned “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not meet his demands to reopen the critical strait used to transport oil from the region.

Late Tuesday, the United States and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire agreement, but the volatile situation overseas has sparked bipartisan questions about Trump’s exit strategy. It also has led a growing number of Democrats to publicly call for his forced ouster by either launching impeachment proceedings or invoking a constitutional mechanism that enables a majority of the White House Cabinet to declare a president unable to discharge their duties.

Both are unlikely options as impeachment would come in a midterm election year where parties are focused primarily on winning control of both chambers come November, while the use of the 25th Amendment requires some level of buy-in from Vice President JD Vance and Trump's cabinet.

Among Long Island’s congressional delegation, Republican Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota continued to offer support for Trump’s decision to strike Iran, while Democrats Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen raised concerns that the president has not laid out a clear exit strategy for a conflict that has left 13 U.S. soldiers dead and more than 300 others injured in retaliatory strikes.

“While those who supported the Carter, Obama and Biden approach of appeasement have criticized President Donald Trump’s tactics, rhetoric and tone, those who understand the nature of the Iranian regime know that bulldog diplomacy is the only language the Iranian ayatollahs and clerics understand,” LaLota (R-Amityville) said in an email to Newsday.

Asked about the potential war powers vote, LaLota said “if a vote comes before the House, I will evaluate it on its merits, prioritizing the safety of American citizens and our troops while ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. While the Administration has said no option is off the table, I do not believe the risks associated with deploying American ground troops are justified by the potential security gains.”

Garbarino (R-Bayport), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, in an email said Iran has posed a longstanding threat to the United States: “From funding terrorist networks to targeting Americans, U.S. officials, and our critical infrastructure through cyberattacks, Iran’s actions cannot go unanswered.”

Garbarino did not directly answer whether he would support a war powers resolution but said he supports “efforts to hold the regime accountable and deter further aggression."

The support from the two Long Island Republicans comes as a number of other Republicans have criticized Trump's online posts, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who wrote on X: "This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years."

Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), who voted last month in support of a war powers resolution that ultimately failed to secure enough votes, said he continued to support a resolution “requiring the President to clearly articulate a long-term strategy.”

“From the start, this crisis has been marked by a lack of a defined end-game,” Suozzi said in a statement to Newsday. “While I strongly support weakening a dangerous terrorist state, I am alarmed by the President’s comments regarding American boots on the ground and his threats against Iranian civilians.”

Gillen, who also voted last month in favor of the war powers resolution, said in a statement she is “deeply concerned by the President’s reckless threat of major escalation with Iran ...”

“While the U.S. must remain ready to act to prevent the existential threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, for the sake of our allies, our national security and global stability, it is unclear that the President’s current strategy will achieve that goal without causing irreparable damage,” Gillen said.

Jeffries in a “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow House Democrats on Wednesday identified the specific War Powers Resolution the party will seek to pass as being one initially introduced in November by Meeks.

Meeks’ measure enforces the 1973 War Powers Resolution’s mandate against open-ended military actions by requiring the president to terminate the use of U.S. forces within 60 to 90 days if Congress has not declared war or passed a specific authorization. It does permit use of the military for defensive actions against the United States and its allies.

Last month, an earlier bipartisan war powers resolution sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was narrowly defeated in the House 219-212 when four House Democrats crossed party lines to join Republicans in opposing that measure. That would have forced Trump to remove U.S. forces from "unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Since then, at least one of those Democrats, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), has indicated he would back a war powers resolution limiting Trump’s authority to wage war without congressional go-ahead. But House passage of a measure would likely be little more than a show of opposition to the administration’s ongoing actions in Iran.

Legislation in the Senate to remove armed forces from Iran without congressional approval has previously been blocked from advancing, but Schumer at a news conference at his Manhattan office said Democrats would continue calling for another vote.

“Trump needs to stop posting on social media and start doing the hard work of building a lasting peace,” Schumer said. “Trump chose this war. He owns the consequences, and next week, Congress ... has the opportunity to act to make sure [this] cannot happen again.”