McClintock: Timing Makes Pelosi’s Iran Resolution ‘Not Only Unconstitutional, but Disgraceful’

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) blasted the resolution passed Thursday on the orders of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to limit President Donald Trump’s powers in the event of a war with Iran.

McClintock noted that the resolution was being passed “at a perilous moment,” with the threat from Iran still potent, and was therefore wrong — even though he opposed the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force justifying Trump’s recent actions:

Our Constitution is clear: only Congress can start a war, but only the President can wage it.  CONGRESS started this war with the AUMF in 2002, and it remains in effect today.  The Founders didn’t want one individual getting us into a war — but once in, they didn’t want 535 squabbling prima donnas second-guessing every decision on the battlefield.

President Trump needed no other reason to order the attack that killed [Iranian terrorist General Qasem] Soleimani IN IRAQ beyond the simple fact that he was acting as an enemy combatant against U.S. forces in a war zone in which the Congress had authorized the President to take military action.

I happen to believe the AUMF was a colossal mistake.  This resolution doesn’t correct that mistake.  It compounds it – by deliberately undermining the position of the United States Government and the armed forces WE sent to Iraq – at a perilous moment – which makes it not only unconstitutional, but disgraceful.

The non-binding resolution passed Thursday evening, largely along party lines, with eight Democrats and three Republicans crossing over to oppose and support the resolution, respectively.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.