Senator Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) latest attempt to restrict President Donald Trump’s authority to conduct military operations has been struck down in the Senate.
The failed effort deals another blow to Democrats trying to rein in the White House’s response to Iranian aggression.
Kaine’s war powers resolution failed largely along party lines.
Had it passed, it would have required congressional debate and approval before the president could authorize military strikes like the ones launched against Iran last weekend.
The only notable exceptions were Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a longtime skeptic of unchecked executive war powers, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
Fetterman broke ranks with his party to back Trump’s decisive action.
Kaine, a Virginia Democrat and 2016 vice presidential nominee, insisted that the resolution was not a reaction to Trump specifically.
He claims its rather a broader call to restore Congress’s constitutional role in matters of war.
Yet the timing was anything but neutral.
His resolution came just days after Operation Midnight Hammer, a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign.
The operation crippled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
It successfully concluded with a Trump-brokered ceasefire.
Many Republicans saw the resolution as a political jab aimed at undermining the president’s victory.
Speaking from the Senate floor, Kaine claimed that recent events “demonstrated that war is too big to consign to the decisions of any one person.”
He invoked the legacy of the Iraq War and warned against repeating what he called “unnecessary” conflicts.
But critics weren’t buying it.
To them, the move was tone-deaf at best.
Kaine pushed his resolution on the heels of a highly successful military operation that not only avoided American casualties but also reasserted U.S. deterrence in a region spiraling toward chaos.
The claim that Trump “declared war,” a narrative being pushed by Democrats, is demonstrably false.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blasted the resolution as out of step with both precedent and reality.
In a floor speech, he reminded colleagues that Democrat presidents, including Clinton, Obama, and even Biden, have all exercised similar executive discretion in places like Kosovo, Libya, and Syria without congressional approval.
McConnell asked why Democrats were suddenly drawing the line at a high-value strike that targeted Iran’s nuclear program and forced the regime into a ceasefire.
“I have not heard the frequent flyers on War Powers resolutions reckon seriously with these questions,” McConnell said.
“Until they do, efforts like this will remain divorced from both strategic and constitutional reality.”
Even constitutional experts have noted that the president holds significant latitude to carry out limited military operations under his role as commander in chief, especially when acting in defense of U.S. interests or allies.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, but the president commands the military.
The 1973 War Powers Resolution was intended to clarify those roles, but in practice, modern presidents have operated with considerable flexibility.
In this case, President Trump acted quickly and effectively, crippling Iran’s nuclear program, backing Israel’s defense, and restoring American deterrence in a single stroke.
That’s not a constitutional crisis. That’s leadership.
The operation was a success and resulted in a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
If Democrats want to challenge it, they’ll need more than symbolic resolutions; they’ll need to win elections.
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