Pelosi To Hold Vote To Block Trump Iran War Powers

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced in a letter to House colleagues that the House will vote to limit Trump’s war powers toward Iran.

Pelosi wrote in a letter provided to PoliticusUSA:

Last week, the Trump Administration conducted a provocative and disproportionate military airstrike targeting high-level Iranian military officials. This action endangered our service members, diplomats and others by risking a serious escalation of tensions with Iran.

As Members of Congress, our first responsibility is to keep the American people safe. For this reason, we are concerned that the Administration took this action without the consultation of Congress and without respect for Congress’s war powers granted to it by the Constitution.

This week, the House will introduce and vote on a War Powers Resolution to limit the President’s military actions regarding Iran. This resolution is similar to the resolution introduced by Senator Tim Kaine in the Senate. It reasserts Congress’s long-established oversight responsibilities by mandating that if no further Congressional action is taken, the Administration’s military hostilities with regard to Iran cease within 30 days.

The House Resolution will be led by Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. Congresswoman Slotkin is a former CIA and Department of Defense analyst specializing in Shia militias. She served multiple tours in the region under both Democratic and Republican Administrations.

I greatly appreciate the solemnity with which all of our Members are working to honor our responsibility to protect American lives and values.

The House currently has its largest number of female veterans in history (6). With each election cycle, more veterans of the wars in the Middle East are joining Congress. The upcoming vote was signaled last week.

The vote to limit Trump’s power to start a war with Iran is why elections matter. A Republican House would have joined Mitch McConnell in rubber-stamping Trump’s escalation with Iran.

There is separate legislation in the House and Senate to block Trump’s funding for offensive military action against Iran, which is a direct action that the House could take without the Senate.

Democrats have power, and they are using it to do everything possible to block a Trump war with Iran.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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