Amid a tenuous ceasefire in the Middle East and the postponement of classified briefings on Tuesday for federal lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, is moving ahead with his war powers resolution in an attempt to rein in President Donald J. Trump on military action in Iran.
Himes' push on war powers is part of a larger effort among Democrats to reassert their congressional authority on military action as the Trump administration defends the the president's ability to launch strikes.
The southwestern º£½Ç»»ÆÞ congressman is part of the "Gang of Eight," a group of Senate and House leaders plus relevant committee heads in both parties who get briefed on intelligence matters by the administration. But Himes on three Iranian nuclear sites and learned of it through social media. He has since seen some reporting but said he couldn't discuss it because of its classified nature.
"As the battle damage assessment comes in, based on what I’m seeing out there, I suspect that some of the high-fiving and celebrations are probably going to be revisited in terms of what was actually accomplished," Himes told the º£½Ç»»ÆÞ Mirror on Tuesday. "I am not confident that this is in fact the end of kinetic activity either by Israel or the United States, so we’re going to continue to go forward" on the resolution.
But he also acknowledged the tough reality of getting enough Republicans to support such a resolution while serving in the minority party. Some Democrats have also been supportive of the strikes, but the vast majority of the party has largely questioned the constitutionality of Trump's move without input from Congress.
"We’re hoping against hope that maybe there are a handful of Republicans who will remember that their duty is to the Constitution to which they raised their right hand and took an oath, as opposed to the man that occupies the Oval Office," Himes told NPR on Tuesday.
"That wouldn't be a terribly good bet, if you are a betting person, but we are going to try to make that case, because again it’s always worth standing up for the prerogatives of the Congress and frankly for the Constitution and the law," he added.
Himes' — introduced alongside other national security leaders U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Adam Smith, D-Wash. — is similar to other war powers resolutions already introduced, but it has a key distinction: It directs Trump to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Iran "other than those elements of the Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack provided."
That is on top of a war powers resolution introduced by a bipartisan pair of lawmakers, though one of the sponsors, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., indicated he might withdraw it if the ceasefire holds up. And the Senate that U.S. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said could come up for a vote later this week.
Once the Himes resolution is formally introduced, a floor vote in the House is required within 15 days. But under House rules, that doesn’t count pro forma session days that happen during a recess, and Congress will be off for a week for the July 4 holiday. That would push the 15-day window farther into July. It is a concurrent resolution, which doesn’t require the signature of a president and is not usually considered binding.
Himes said it was designed as a privileged resolution so that could come up for a vote.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been critical of war powers resolutions, saying that it "is not a time for politics."
The Constitution grants the legislative branch the ability to "declare war." The War Powers Act of 1973 requires a president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action if there is no declaration of war. Johnson took aim at that law on Tuesday.
"Many respected constitutional experts argue that the War Powers Act is itself unconstitutional," Johnson told reporters. "I'm persuaded by that argument. They think it's a violation of the Article II powers of the commander in chief. I think that's right."
Himes and º£½Ç»»ÆÞ’s congressional delegation were hoping to get more answers about the recent strikes on Tuesday during briefings led by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But they were postponed. The Senate briefing was rescheduled for Thursday, and the House one was moved to Friday.
Himes said he didn't know the reason for the cancellations but cast doubt on Trump's characterization that Iran's nuclear facilities were "completely and totally obliterated" based on what the congressman has learned so far.
"Based on what I’ve seen out there in public, not on classified channels, I think the persistent use of the word 'obliterated' is probably way misplaced," Himes said Tuesday.
"It’s very disappointing," he said about the postponed briefings. "The administration has not only not warned us in advance of this attack but now has cancelled this briefing so they’re being about as untransparent as possible."
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said Monday he wanted to get more insight into the damage assessment and what officials are doing in terms of "risk mitigation" for U.S. forces in the region. On Monday, Iran launched a retaliatory strike on a U.S. Air Force base in Qatar — which was intercepted by Qatari air defenses.
Since then, Iran and Israel have entered a ceasefire announced by Trump on Monday. But the situation seemed precarious earlier Tuesday. Trump against violating the pact and said he was "not happy" with Israel for bombing Iran.
The president also appeared to walk back his sentiment from a day earlier when he indicated the possibility of backing regime change in Iran.
"I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible," Trump told reporters Tuesday on Air Force One. "Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos."
The º£½Ç»»ÆÞ Mirror/º£½Ç»»ÆÞ Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
