Sen. Kaine: ‘Presidents Cannot Start Wars Without Congress’

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) questioned the constitutionality of Quds Force Supreme Commander Qassem Soleimani being killed in an airstrike directed by President Donald Trump.

Kaine said, “The question is not whether Soleimani was a despicable killer, he was. And the question is not whether Iran is a bad actor, they are. The question is whether the United States should be engaged in another unnecessary war in the Middle East. I believe it is very foolish for the U.S. to be involved in another war in the Middle East. But however you think about that question, should we be at war, I do know this. We should not go to a war with Iran based on a presidential decision with no consultation of Congress. We should only go to war with Iran if there is a congressional vote pursuant to the Constitution saying that we need to be at war. And so today I’m going to take the one step that I have available to me. I will file a resolution pursuant to the War Powers act of 1974 to try to force Congress to have a debate about whether or not it is in the United States’ interests to be at war with Iran. I don’t think it is. Some of my colleagues may think otherwise. But we can’t let the president make this decision on his own.”

He continued, “We should not be committing our troops to war unless Congress has the guts to debate and vote that it’s in the national interest. President Trump clearly believes he can wage war without Congress. That’s not what the Constitution says. And I’m going to do everything I can to force us to have that debate. There may be colleagues of mine. I suspect there are, who believe the U.S. should be at war with Iran. Let them stand on the floor of the Senate and make that case to the American public. Many of us will make the case that that would be very foolish. But if I lose that vote, then I will accept that. What I do not accept is the notion that a president can ignore the Constitution and engage in escalatory actions against the advice of his Department of Defense that have brought to us the brink of war.”

He added, “I made the same argument when President Obama engaged in military action without Congress. I hold Democrats and Republicans equally accountable. Presidents cannot start wars without Congress, and we will try to force a debate so that Congress can weigh in on whether or not this is a good idea.”

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