Democrats are preparing to bring War Powers resolutions up for votes in both the House and Senate next week.
Congressional Democrats on Feb. 26 vowed to advance resolutions in the Senate and House of Representatives in an effort to prevent President Donald Trump from directing military action against Iran.
Democrats are hoping to force Trump to consult more deeply with Congress, as the president has repeatedly signaled he’s willing to pursue military action if Tehran doesn’t come to a deal on its nuclear agenda. On Thursday, U.S. and Iranian negotiators concluded a round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, without reaching a diplomatic breakthrough.
“Americans are weighed down by rising costs and disappearing jobs,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a Thursday X post. “Trump is failing to address these problems. Instead, he is toying with the idea of attacking Iran, needlessly jeopardizing servicemembers’ safety.”
In a Senate floor speech, Kaine said he has prepared a war powers resolution that could come up for a Senate vote next week.
On Thursday, House Armed Services Committee Democrats announced they would also bring action next week to force a vote on a war powers resolution brought by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
Committee Democrats denounced recent violent suppression of internal protests in Iran, but said “undertaking a war of choice in the Middle East, without a full understanding of all the attendant risks to our servicemembers and to escalation, is reckless.”
“We maintain that any such action would be unconstitutional without consultation with and authorization from Congress,” the Committee Democrats added.
Under the 1973 War Powers Act, lawmakers may assert privileged motions to avoid procedural hurdles and force a floor vote on matters of military action.
Trump Raises Iran Threat Warning
During his State of the Union Address, Trump said Iran currently has missiles capable of striking Europe and overseas U.S. military bases and is pursuing missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland.
Trump also said Iran is still pursuing nuclear weapons following U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
“They’re starting it all over. We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again and at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” he said.
“We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
Vice President JD Vance said on Feb. 25 that the Trump administration has seen evidence that Iran is trying to rebuild its nuclear program and pursue a warhead after the June 2025 U.S. strikes on three of its nuclear sites.
“[Trump] is sending two of his best negotiators to Geneva tomorrow in order to continue to try to strike the best deal possible for the American people. But the principle is very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters. “If they try to rebuild a nuclear weapon, that causes problems for us. And in fact, we’ve seen evidence that they have tried to do exactly that.”
Iranian leaders have long insisted the country’s nuclear program is peaceful.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has represented Tehran in recent rounds of talks, issued another statement on Feb. 24, again saying Iran would not pursue a nuclear weapon, nor would the country forego peaceful nuclear development.
Araghchi has also signaled Iran’s opposition to including its missile programs in ongoing negotiations with the United States.
By Ryan Morgan and Nathan Worcester
