In the film Sweet Liberty, Alan Alda played a college professor whose serious historical novel gets turned into a teenage sex romp by a Hollywood director. Noting that his contract entitles him to consultations, he demands a conversation with the director and orders him to revert the script to actual history. The director nods thoughtfully, then tells Alda to pound sand ... and thanks him for the "consultation."
That recollection seems apropos this evening. Democrats insisted that Donald Trump had gone to war without getting Congress' consultation. Well, today, Congress consulted Trump, and the Senate essentially approved the war on Iran:
The GOP-controlled Senate rejected a resolution that sought to limit President Trump’s ability to conduct military operations against Iran without congressional approval, with nearly all Republicans officially throwing their support behind Trump’s open-ended mission against the Islamic Republic.
Senators voted to block the measure from advancing, with 47 in favor and 53 opposed, largely along party lines. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with Republicans against the measure, while GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican who voted in favor.
The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) would have directed the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces in hostilities against Iran or any part of the Iranian government or military unless Congress declared war or voted to authorize the operations.
Thanks for the consultation, Senator Kaine!
The New York Times glumly noted the loss:
Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure that would limit President Trump’s power to continue waging war against Iran without congressional authorization, turning back a bid by Democrats to insist that Congress weigh in on a sweeping and open-ended military campaign.
The 53-to-47 vote against taking up the measure was almost completely along party lines, reflecting a deep partisan divide on the Iran war as the Senate delivered the first clear test of congressional resolve since the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, Operation Epic Fury, began across Iran four days ago.
The House is still pursuing their own version, but this renders the effort moot. Even more salient, this kind of bill would have to be signed by the president in order to take effect, a point either discounted by media outlets or not reported at all. Even if Congress mustered up the simple majorities required to pass the bill, they would have had to override Trump's inevitable veto by two-thirds in each chamber.
The failure to even get to a simple majority in the Senate (this type of bill is privileged and not subject to filibusters) made the situation even worse for Trump's opponents. As Rand Paul admitted, the vote today amounts to a tacit agreement to go to war with Iran, at least for the 60 days specified under the War Powers Act:
The Senate rejected a resolution Wednesday to block President Donald Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran, declined to halt a war that Trump started without the consent of Congress.
Democrats — along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) — forced a vote on the war powers resolution over the opposition of most Republicans, who control the Senate. Democrats implored a handful of Republicans to break with their party to end the conflict and reassert Congress’s control over declaring war.
“This essentially is the vote whether to go to war or not,” Paul told reporters.
Kaine and others are now trying to paint this as a moral victory for the purposes of forcing a debate on Trump's war aims. That's nonsense; the debate started as soon as Operation Epic Fury launched, and it will continue as long as the war does, and well beyond that, too. This was a partisan play by Democrats to prevent Trump from exercising the same discretion as every other elected president in the past 40 or more years, from Ronald Reagan in Grenada to Barack Obama's seven-month campaign in Libya to force Moammar Qaddafi from power.
That failed. In fact, it backfired, as now Trump can accurately claim that Congress took action and ended up tacitly endorsing Operation Epic Fury.
Thanks for the consultation.
Update: Looks like Democrats have recognized defeat and have decided to get pragmatic:
“I mean, you lie to us, don’t consult us and then expect us to send more taxpayer money to a war that we shouldn’t have started with no plan and no answers,” said Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), a combat veteran of the Iraq War, in an interview. He called reports of the $50 billion request “outrageous.”
But this is not the universal position inside the party. Several Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee aren’t ruling out supporting more Pentagon funding. That includes the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, as well as Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
A White House emergency funding request could force Democrats to choose between rebuffing the president and turning their backs on legislation the administration deems necessary for replenishing key defensive munition stocks designed to keep U.S. troops and civilians safe.
There’s awareness among many Democrats that Trump has thrust the country into a conflict, and now Congress has no choice but to help keep things on track.
They're stuck now, after Kaine's stunt. Congress took a vote on a War Powers Act resolution, and voted against a demand to end hostilities.
The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today's show features:
- America went to war with Iran this weekend. How did the media report it?
- Andrew Malcolm and I take a look at that question, along with the messages that Operation Epic Fury sends. Is China listening?
- Plus, I put down a Malcolm rebellion!
The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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