Lawmakers 'caught off guard' by Trump's Iran war can start pushing back now: analysis

Congress may have been caught off guard by Donald Trump's sudden strikes on Iran, but they can start fighting back now, a political analyst has confirmed.

While Trump has the power to continue striking the Middle Eastern country alongside Israel, the president could start facing consequential opposition from Congress should the war carry on much longer. Though Congress has not declared war officially since the Second World War, the immediate response from Democratic Party and GOP members could be a sign of how fast opposition to bombing Iran could mount.

Charlie Hunt and Sorelle Wyckoff Gaynor wrote in Salon, "Congress, seemingly caught off guard by the Trump administration’s actions in Iran, has responded in a few ways. Perhaps unsurprisingly, responses have fallen largely along party lines.

"Following the initial bombings, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, introduced a war powers resolution to prevent further military action in Iran. In the House, U.S. Reps. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced a similar bipartisan resolution.

"The votes failed in both chambers despite overwhelming support from Democrats. On the Republican side, Marco Rubio’s explanation for the military action seemed to appease many key members of Congress. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, claimed the president had the authority to move forward with military action in Iran."

There are two "traditional and frequently used oversight tools" Congress can now use to take the Trump administration to task on its war rhetoric.

The pair wrote, "Oversight hearings provide members of Congress an opportunity to not only question and investigate the executive branch’s activity, but also to provide their constituents with this fact-finding work and draw attention to policy issues. As some recent oversight hearings indicate, these can also be opportunities for partisan jabs and 'made for TV' moments."

"Although the Trump administration has provided closed-door briefings to members of Congress, Democratic senators are asking for more. They are calling for Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Rubio to come before congressional committees to explain their reasoning and plans for the Iran war."

"But perhaps the most powerful tool that Congress has is its power of the purse, outlined in Article 1 of the Constitution."