House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) smacked down the bipartisan war powers resolution proposal that would require President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before authorizing further strikes on Iran, The Hill reported.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced the measure last week, meant to curb Trump's ability to strike when and where he likes.
Despite the proposal, Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. military had "carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan." Trump claimed that Iran's nuclear capabilities were "obliterated" in the attack, despite media pushback.
So far, Massie is the only Republican on the record supporting the resolution. It was unclear whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) supported the measure, although she has adamantly spoken out against U.S. involvement in Israel's conflict with Iran. Some 48 Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate have said they would support such a measure.
When asked Monday if he would allow a floor vote, Johnson said it was "not a time for politics."
“I don’t think this is an appropriate time for a war powers resolution and I don’t think it’s necessary,” Johnson told reporters. “For 80 years, presidents of both parties have acted with the same commander-in-chief authority under Article II, you had President Biden used three times in Middle East operations. President Obama went on an eight-month campaign of bombing Libya to take down the regime there.”
Johnson added, “I never heard a Democrat balk about any of that, and suddenly now they’re just up in arms. It’s all politics. This is not a time for politics.”
The Hill reported that "Massie and Khanna can still force their measure to the floor. The resolution is privileged and can be called up for debate and a vote after 15 days of no committee action."