A group of us in the Senate are demanding public hearings on Trump's disastrous war with Iran with Secretary Hegseth and Rubio. And we've introduced a half dozen war powers resolutions to force the Senate to vote every day on the war if the hearings don't happen.
Our politics are fundamentally corrupt. And our economy is rigged against working people because of this corruption.
Trump's illegal Iran War is destined to end in failure. Already, hardline leadership is emerging that will be more hostile to America than the leaders we killed. And there is no way to eliminate their nuclear program with a bombing campaign. This whole war is pointless.
It’s like not a single person surrounding Trump studied one thing about Afghanistan. When a bombing campaign intentionally makes life this miserable for civilians, all it does it make hardline leadership more attractive and become bulletin board material for extremist groups.
Trump and his national security team have learned nothing from our prior mistakes in the Middle East. Bombing a school (a incompetent mistake) and a desalinization plant (probably not a mistake) is just going to empower Iran's hardline leadership and dangerous terrorist groups.
I was asked by Jake Tapper if my push to deny Trump funding for his illegal war with Iran was a failure to "support our troops".
My answer: refusing to repeat the mistakes of the past - sending soldiers to die in pointless Middle East wars - is how we support our troops
There have been some very bad developments today.
So Iran now has, perhaps for the first time, information about the location of our most sensitive covert sites in the region.
A completely foreseeable, unnecessary consequence of unnecessary war with Iran.
A story that is not being told enough about the Iran War is that the U.S. and Israel have totally different, incompatible goals. The U.S. says it’s targeting weapons systems. Israel wants regime change and a failed state. This conflict leads to total incoherence.
“I guess”.
You’ve got to be kidding me. We have totally unserious, completely incompetent people taking us into mindless deadly war.
I’m a hell no on funding for Trump’s illegal, disastrous Iran War.
The Trump Administration is considering asking Congress for new emergency spending for the Iran War.
Hell no. This is our chance to draw a line in the sand and use our power to stop this war before it kills more Americans and sends the Middle East into more chaos.
Americans are dead. Prices are skyrocketing. The Middle East is on fire. Civil war is brewing in Iran.
And for what? A war that will leave the same hardliners in charge? A war that can't actually destroy their nuclear program?
This is incompetence. Plain and simple.
The incompetence of the Iran War rollout is just stunning.
Rubio says "Israel dragged us into this war! We had no choice!"
Trump says "I dragged Israel into this war! Regime change! Iranian people, rise up!"
Just bonkers.
Here's what I believe: no more business as usual in the Senate. We shouldn't be voting to proceed to normal legislation until Republicans schedule a debate and a vote and on a declaration of war against Iran. Let's see if Trump has the votes to authorize war. I bet he doesn't.
It will be the kids of poor families and the middle class that die. It will be working families that pay the costs. The Epstein class will not suffer.
So the State Department is forcing everyone to immediately leave the region but is also refusing to help people leave the region.
The strike itself is illegal and disastrous but their lack of readiness for what comes next is unforgivable as well.
Incompetence everywhere.
Today's explanation for the Iran War (they shift by the minute) is that Israel was going to attack and so we had to as well. We were "forced" into war by Netanyahu.
That's the definition of weakness - being suckered into a war of choice that no American wants.
This is spiraling fast and they seem to have no clue or plan on how to control it.
I want to walk you through why it’s nearly certain Trump’s Iran War is going to be a massive, deadly, trillion dollar failure. And why you should be furious he’s set us on this path.
6/ If a War Powers Resolution becomes the way we debate war, then the burden is forever shifted.
Instead of the president seeking approval before starting war, the opponents need to muster the votes to stop it.
That's not how our founders designed it.
5/ That’s why Democrats should insist on an AUMF vote and a full debate on the President’s decision to plunge the U.S. back into war in the Middle East—and block other legislation until we do.
4/ And here’s the other thing: if the WPR fails (and it likely will because 50 votes defeat it, and nearly all Rs will vote against), Trump will say he has Congress’s support.
This gives Trump political cover and sets a dangerous precedent going forward.
3/ An AUMF is a vote FOR war. Trump doesn’t want to come to Congress with legislation authorizing his war because he’d need 60 votes in the Senate (which he likely wouldn't get), and it would force tough questions around the cost, timelines, and specific goals of the war.
2/ What’s the difference? A WPR is a vote AGAINST war.
I’m a co-sponsor of the WPR. But even if Congress passes it, Trump won’t sign it. It's basically symbolic.
Democrats MUST insist on a vote on an Authorization of Military Force (an AUMF) for Trump’s war in Iran.
My friend @kaine.senate.gov is leading the charge on a War Powers Resolution (WPR) that I support. But it's not a substitute for an AUMF.
1/ A 🧵on the difference. It's important.
How is he "ending a regime"? Game out for me how this ends up in an inclusive, flourishing democracy. The most likely scenario - by far - is the the same hardliners (maybe even worse hardliners) end up in control. Just a different name on the door.
The Epstein class's kids won't die in this war. Poor families' kids will.
Billionaires won't suffer. Middle class families will pay more for everything.
And for what? For a different hardline cleric to run Iran than the one who was about to die soon anyway?
Of course. No one wanted this war. They wanted food and health care and energy prices to go down. Now all those things will cost more.
It's a war of folly by a doddering old man who likes when things blow up and needs to distract us from the child sex ring he's connected to.
The costs of this Iran war debacle will likely be more than the cost of extending the ACA health insurance subsidies.
If you asked Americans, which do you want: another war in the Middle East or lower health care costs at home, is the margin 90 to 10? 95 to 5?
