A bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday May 24, stated Congress’s position that no law exists which gives the US president the power to launch a military strike against Iran.
The amendment was introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison and cosponsored by Reps, Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna, Jan Schakowsky, Jim McGovern and Walter Jones, reported Ellison on his website.
“The unanimous passage of this bipartisan amendment is a strong and timely counter to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran deal and its increasingly hostile rhetoric,” Rep. Ellison said, adding, “This amendment sends a powerful message that the American people and Members of Congress do not want a war with Iran. Today, Congress acted to reclaim its authority over the use of military force.”
Elison further stressed on his website that “the amendment clarifies that the President does not have the authority to go to war with Iran.”
“The War Powers Act and Constitution is clear that our country’s military action must first always be authorized by Congress. A war with Iran would be unconstitutional and costly. The unanimous passage of Rep. Ellison’s amendment sends a strong message to Secretary Pompeo, National Security Advisor Bolton, and the Trump administration that Congress has the power to decide issues of war and peace,” said Rep. Khanna.
On the same day the amendment was approved, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Senate that the Trump administration was not after regime change in Iran.
The amendment came two weeks after President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal with Iran also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The deal characterized by President Trump as “the worst deal ever” was made with Iran in 2015, by five UN Security Council members, U.S., UK, France, China and Russia, as well as Germany (P5+1) to limit Iran’s nuclear capability.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said May 23 that the United States will work with as many allies as possible to reach a new deal to halt “all of Iran’s nuclear and nonnuclear threats.”
“We will apply unprecedented financial pressure, coordinate with [the military] on deterrence efforts, support the Iranian people…and hold out the prospects for a new deal with Iran," Pompeo told a House Foreign Affairs Committee budget hearing on May 23, adding U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States will work with as many allies as possible to reach a new deal to halt “all of Iran’s nuclear and nonnuclear threats.”
“We will apply unprecedented financial pressure, coordinate with [the military] on deterrence efforts, support the Iranian people…and hold out the prospects for a new deal with Iran," Pompeo told a House Foreign Affairs Committee budget hearing on May 23, adding “Iran simply needs to change its behavior. "