“Mr. President, don’t take your anger out on me - I’m just a silly girl.” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Take it out on whoever convinced you to betray the American people and our Constitution by illegally bombing Iran and dragging us into war.”
She later added, “It only took you 5 months to break almost every promise you made.”
Her remarks came a few short hours after Trump raged at the Congresswoman. “Stupid AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress, is now calling for my Impeachment, despite the fact that the Crooked and Corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before,” Trump said on his social media platform.
“The reason for her ‘rantings’ is all of the Victories that the U.S.A. has had under the Trump Administration.” He added, “The Democrats aren’t used to WINNING, and she can’t stand the concept of our Country being successful again.”
Trump then called for her to have a cognitive exam, saying, “AOC should be forced to take the Cognitive Test that I just completed at Walter Reed Medical Center, as part of my Physical. As the Doctor in charge said, ‘President Trump ACED it,’ meaning, I got every answer right.”
The congresswoman called for Trump’s impeachment after he bombed Iran without notifying Congress. After the bomb announcement was made, Ocasio-Cortez took to X, saying, “The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.”
She later added, “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
TV networks were caught by surprise by his fury, running unedited curse words from the president live to their morning audiences.
Israel claimed Iran violated the deal by aiming missiles at their country. An Israeli attack reportedly took out an Iranian missile launcher.
“As soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before,” Trump said. “I'm not happy with Israel. I'm not happy with Iran either, but I'm really unhappy [with Israel].”
As reporters attempted to yell out more questions, Trump said, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f--- they're doing. Do you understand that?”
He then abruptly walked away from reporters, on his way to fly to a NATO summit in the Hague.
CNN anchor John Berman said, “The President of the United States does not know if this ceasefire is still in effect. That's where we are this morning. He thinks both sides have violated it. And you heard him at the end there. Just words of really, I think, frustration with both Israel and Iran.”
Before swearing on live TV, Trump also unleashed on CNN for its reporting on the United States' air strike on Iran’s nuclear facility. “The fake news, like CNN in particular, they're trying to say, ‘well, I agree that it was destroyed, but maybe not that destroyed.’ You know what they're doing?” Trump asked rhetorically, “They're really hurting great pilots that put their lives on the line. CNN is scum and so is MSDNC.”
Before he spoke with reporters, Trump posted on Truth Social, “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES”
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social early Tuesday to launch into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell — and urge his allies in Congress to tear into the man.
“‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell, of the Fed, will be in Congress today in order to explain, among other things, why he is refusing to lower the Rate,” Trump wrote.
“Europe has had 10 cuts, we have had ZERO. No inflation, great economy - We should be at least two to three points lower. Would save the USA 800 Billion Dollars Per Year, plus. What a difference this would make.”
Trump went on to say, “If things later change to the negative, increase the Rate. I hope Congress really works this very dumb, hardheaded person over. We will be paying for his incompetence for many years to come. THE BOARD SHOULD ACTIVATE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump has been calling for rates to be lower since he was inaugurated on January 20th. Powell has refused because of Trump’s other economic moves, including placing tariffs on nearly every country.
He is due to appear before Congress Tuesday to present the Fed's monetary policy report and provide updates on the central bank's views on the economy.
Trump has threatened to remove Powell from his position, which is illegal. Trump has Previously called Powell a "fool who doesn't have a clue" and "Mr. Too Late."
Powell was appointed to the Fed by President Trump in 2018 during his first term. President Joe Biden later reappointed him.
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling Monday that permitted President Donald Trump to resume migrant deportations to countries like El Salvador and Guatemala, the three dissenting judges slammed the decision as a “gross abuse of the court’s equitable discretion.”
Invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, Trump first ordered the deportation of migrants to foreign countries in March, sending hundreds to El Salvador’s notoriously dangerous CECOT prison, including a Maryland man with protected legal status due to an “administrative error.” While federal judges would shortly thereafter issue orders to halt the deportations, the Trump administration would continue to deport dozens of migrants to foreign nations.
It was that continued defiance of federal court orders, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissenting opinion, signed onto by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Jackson, that led to her decision to vote against staying a preliminary injunction blocking continued deportations.
“Rather than allowing our lower court colleagues to manage this high-stakes litigation with the care and attention it plainly requires, this court now intervenes to grant the Government emergency relief from an order it has repeatedly defied,” Sotomayor wrote. “I cannot join so gross an abuse of the Court’s equitable discretion.”
Sotomayor went on to condemn the Trump administration’s blatant defiance of federal court orders as reckless in what she called a "matter of life and death.”
“It wrongfully deported one plaintiff to Guatemala, even though an immigration judge found he was likely to face torture there,” she wrote.
“Then, in clear violation of a court order, it deported six more to South Sudan, a nation the State Department considers too unsafe for all but its most critical personnel. An attentive district court’s timely intervention only narrowly prevented a third set of unlawful removals to Libya.”
Three different news reports are saying that Iran has fired missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar.
Wall Street Journal national security reporter Lara Seligman noted just before noon EST Monday, "Iran is moving missile launchers into place for a potential attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East in response to the surprise American strike on three nuclear sites over the weekend, according to U.S. officials. DOD tracking a 'credible' threat to U.S. forces in the region."
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a post on X that it suspended air traffic around the same time "to ensure the safety of citizens, residents and visitors."
"Iran has fired missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq. Extent of damage--and whether there are US casualties--will be crucial in determining whether there is additional escalation," Gregory Brew, senior analyst of Iran and Energy at The Eurasia Group, reported.
Axios global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid said on X that an "Israeli official" told him "Iran launched 6 missiles towards U.S. bases in Qatar."
WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party is at a crossroads, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett says she’s got the roadmap her beleaguered caucus needs.
The Texas Democrat known for electrifying the internet is only serving her second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is why her bid to become ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday is turning heads.
“We have a very interesting figure that is currently in the White House, and I think I'm uniquely suited to kind of be the opposition to him,” Crockett told Raw Story, while walking through the Capitol.
“He already envisions me that way, and I'm sure, if there's one person he doesn't want in that seat, I'm sure it's me.”
Crockett is part of a four-candidate race to succeed nine-term Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.
With younger progressives challenging veteran incumbents in heated primaries from coast to coast, this week’s internal Democratic debate over which direction the House Oversight Committee should go indicates broader tensions dividing the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.
‘I hate that committee’
Crockett knows how to get attention. But getting clicks is different than delivering Democrats out of the proverbial political wilderness voters banished them to in November.
Everyone on Capitol Hill knows Crockett is adept at garnering free media coverage and retweets. That’s no longer enough. In recent weeks, Crockett’s been pitching herself as a team player.
“So my big pitch is getting us to the majority and making sure that we start to build a rapport with the American people,” she said.
“From raising money to giving money away, I think a part of leadership is more than just kind of running the committee, it’s making sure that we can help the caucus get to the majority.”
While Crockett needs to convince her peers to back her move up the power ladder, in meetings with colleagues she’s been highlighting the party’s need to appeal outside the Washington Beltway. The 44-year-old lawyer sees herself as Democrats’ bridge to the future.
“We've got to think about, ‘How is this going to be perceived by the outside?’ Will they then become more engaged? Because we need people to be more engaged in government,” Crockett said.
“We need them to know what it is that we're doing and what it is that we're fighting for.”
Republicans sense Democratic weakness on the Oversight Committee.
“You see how all over the map they are?” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) laughed to Raw Story after a recent high-profile hearing.
“When we were in the minority, our goal was always to try to at least win the hearing. Determine what your narrative and point is, and then see how much you can hammer it home.”
Being confined to the minority means Democrats are mostly locked out of the legislative process. That makes committee work tiresome for most, except those on the headline-grabbing Oversight panel.
"Because of the subject matter that it covers — which is anything — it has the propensity to actually elevate issues into headline issues,” Biggs said. “It has the potential to be a very high-profile committee, consistently.”
Oversight attracts rabble-rousers. On the right, there’s Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO). On the left, four out of seven of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ (D-NY) so-called “Squad” members call Oversight home.
Still, the committee isn’t for everyone.
“I hate that committee,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) told Raw Story. “I was on it as a freshman. You don’t pass bills. You just go there to get on TV.”
Getting on TV used to be little more than a vanity project. These days, if your party isn’t winning American screens, it‘s barely even an afterthought. Far-right Freedom Caucus Republicans on the Oversight Committee know this all too well.
“Part of Oversight is conducting oversight and questioning these officials on why they continue to put their constituents and their citizens last and making sure that Americans get to see it on TV," Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) told Raw Story.
"That's a part of what Oversight is all about, so that the people in this country know what their representatives are doing.”
'Bomb throwing'
Crockett’s got competition. Connolly tapped 12-term Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) to take over as top Democrat on Oversight — which has had many Republicans laughing or cringing as they’ve witnessed him ratchet up his rhetoric in recent weeks.
“He’s very different – the grotesque rhetoric,” Biggs told Raw Story, after Lynch compared ICE agents to the Gestapo at one hearing. “He's trying to show that he can compete on the bomb throwing.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) speaks to reporters. Photo: Reuters
The bomb throwing comes natural to two-term Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). He’s been turning heads on social media since coming to Washington in 2023, and is making a similar pitch asCrockett: that he’s youthful, very online and understands angst in the next generation.
While the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has formally endorsed Garcia, the Congressional Black Caucus isn’t formally endorsing in this race, in part, because two of its members are facing off in the contest.
Which brings us to the last candidate pitch, which comes from the other side of the seniority spectrum.
After winning a fifth term in 1996, Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) resigned his seat to become president of the NAACP. In 2020, voters sent him back to Washington, maintaining the seniority from his first time in Congress — a card he’s playing to his peers, arguing the party needs the wisdom of old amid today’s digital duress.
The four candidates vying to be the senior Democrat on Oversight are twisting their rank-and-file peers into knots.
“You have four very different candidates, very different backgrounds. You have seniority versus kind of the younger generation," Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) told Raw Story. “On policy, I don’t think there’s much difference between the four of them. On style, there is.”
The six-term congressman feels the tension between rewarding veterans and passing the baton to the next generation, which is why Crockett’s been on his radar.
“She’s got a talent on how to use social media. Talks about the younger generation, how to engage them,” Bera said. "I think there's something about seniority and experience, but I also think — I'm not the social-media darling — but you have folks that do know how to use those tools to communicate.”
Others concur.
“Clearly, I believe in seniority. It would be against my own personal interest not to be,” 10-term Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) told Raw Story. “Everything equal I would certainly want to take the person with seniority — everything being equal. You know, these are some unusual times.”
Given the recent dustup at the Democratic National Committee over former vice-chair and anti-gun violence activist David Hogg’s decision to back primary challenges to sitting members of Congress, many congressional Democrats have been frustrated watching the party squabble.
“We’re wasting a lot of energy and money trying to help Donald Trump when we start fighting like this. It makes absolutely no sense. It’s not helpful,” Cleaver said.
Cleaver’s a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), which recently invited all four Oversight candidates to a forum where they privately pitched their peers.
“One thing that I will say that I thought was great about this forum is all about who the best leader for this committee would be,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), the current CPC chair, told Raw Story.
“It wasn’t about whose turn it is, it was all about who the best leader for the committee is and I think that's a good thing for Congress.”
Many senior Democrats are trying to stay out of the fray, for fear they may attract a primary challenger. But with an increasing number of progressives targeting what they see as an out-of-touch seniority system, veteran Democrats are embracing the four-way Oversight contest.
“It’s their prerogative,” Rep. John Larson (D-CT) told Raw Story. “Especially these days, there's a lot of feeling out there on seniority, term limits and all those discussions. You always go through these trends.”
“Do you think the seniority system still matters?” Raw Story pressed.
“Yes, I do. I think experience matters,” Larson said. “It's an education process for people, so I do think that that's important.”
‘New, energetic voices’
With Democratic leaders still trying to figure out how they failed the party’s base in 2024 by allowing President Donald Trump to win a second term, Republicans are giddy.
“Does top slot on Oversight for Dems really matter?” Raw Story asked.
“It does for the messaging for the Democrats,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) — another darling of the far-right Freedom Caucus — told Raw Story. “Democrats, nationally their polling is in the sh—er … so it's just all propaganda.”
Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene , Lauren Boebert and Anna Paulina Luna sit in an Oversight Committee Hearing. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Democrats are looking for a powerful, unifying voice, which is why Crockett’s become a party favorite.
“She's certainly a dynamic voice, and injects some new energy into a Congress that needs it,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) told Raw Story. “We need new, energetic voices.”
Crockett’s promising more than her megaphone. She’s trying to convince her colleagues she’s adept at more than winning news cycles: she wants to win back the White House, starting by reclaiming the House majority in 2026.
“Talking about things such as listening to people, not when we're asking them for votes, but like right now,” Crockett said. “Doing some shadow field hearings in Republican backyards where they don't want to show up. We're listening to the real stories of the people, letting their neighbors hear from them.”
Crockett’s also promising her peers she’s willing to share center stage.
“Doing my best to make sure that we're uplifting the voices of the team,” she told Raw Story.
“This is a very young committee, and so introducing them to the American people so that people don't feel like there's only a couple of Democrats that are part of the opposition, but they start to see more faces and voices.”
Crockett’s Oversight Committee bid is about more than just going viral. A trial lawyer by training, she argues her resume makes her a perfect fit for the Trump-era.
“Investigations is kind of all I did,” Crockett said, with a knowing laugh. “I dealt with criminals a lot so I know how to deal with them, that's for sure.”
Donald Trump is "still no doubt stinging" from a derogatory nickname that has been used to ridicule him, according to the president's own family member.
Trump's niece, trained psychologist Mary Trump, on Sunday published a piece on Substack entitled, "The Worst Person at the Worst Time," in which she argues that her uncle's latest move amounts to launching a completely "unilateral, unprovoked, and illegal war."
"As a country, we are at war and the man who led us into this war is a corrupt, degraded, ignorant know-nothing who acted illegally to plunge us into a potentially catastrophic situation without the consent of Congress because, despite the fact that he is president of the United States of America and arguably the most recognized figure on the planet, he wasn’t getting enough attention," she said. "It is long past time that we stop imputing some deeper or reasonable motives to Donald Trump."
She added, "Despite being depraved and cruel, much like his cohort Benjamin Netanyahu, he is driven by the most primitive impulses that center almost solely around protecting his fragile ego from humiliation (about which he has a pathological terror) and himself from the reality that he is a complete fraud."
Elaborating, Mary Trump turns her attention to the recent acronym that went viral for mocking Trump's purported tendency to "chicken out," especially as it relates to trade disputes. The "TACO" name was used by investors looking to bet on tariff outcomes, and Trump lashed out when he was confronted about it.
"Donald is still no doubt stinging from the acronym recently coined to mock his inability to follow through on anything—TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out. In the wake of Israeli strikes against Iran, Donald spent a few days saber-rattling only to back off (chicken out, if you will) in the wake of searing criticism by some of the most reliably sycophantic members of his cult—e.g. Rep. Marjorie Green (R-GA), Alex Jones, and Steve Bannon)," Mary Trump wrote. "He announced at a bizarre press conference that his decision to address the ostensibly urgent crisis regarding Iran would be put off for two weeks."
She continued:
"Only two days later, he ordered the attack on Iran. His allies would have us believe that Donald, a brilliant strategist, was faking us out. Sure. An infinitely more plausible explanation is that, on the one hand, he hates being challenged or contradicted, especially from those who almost always fall in line; therefore, he felt the need to double-down on his threats by carrying them out. On the other hand, Donald is a desperate black hole of need—by changing the narrative, he could make sure the spotlight turned back on him."
Conservative TV presenter Sean Hannity got a correction by the BBC after he shared a purportedly "false" video.
The Fox News host on Saturday posted a video to Meta platforms with the caption, "Fordow is gone," referring to one of the nuclear sites the U.S. struck in Iran.
The clip Hannity posted showed a large explosion, and it was assumed by many commenters that the video depicted Fordow as it was being destroyed.
"Fox News prime time host Sean Hannity has posted this video on Instagram, falsely claiming that it shows US strikes on Fordow tonight," Sardarizadeh wrote on X late on Saturday night. "The video he's posted is actually from December 2024, showing Israeli strikes on a missile base in Tartous, Syria."
Popular liberal commentator Spiro’s Ghost chimed in with, "Sean Hannity posting fake nonsense? Shocked, I tell you."
Trump made the controversial statement on social media:
"It’s not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???" Trump asked on his Truth Social platform. He then added, "MIGA!!!"
Washington correspondent for CNBCMegan Cassella quoted others in the administration recently advancing the complete opposite stance:
"VANCE: 'Our view has been very clear that we don't want a regime change.' HEGSETH: 'This mission was not and has not been about regime change.' RUBIO: Regime change is 'certainly not the goal of what we're working on here,'" the reporter wrote.
Former prosecutor Ron Filipkowski chimed in with, "Just wondering if my MAGA friends have to change the color of their hats now that Trump is all about Making Iran Great Again. You know he has that Trump Tower Tehran in his head - lots of great business opportunities for Trump Org from a Trump-installed regime!"
GOP political consultant Mike Madrid said of Trump's statement, "It’s like a tariff negotiation but with bunker busting bombs and nuclear holocaust instead of maple syrup."
Conservative attorney and anti-Trump activist George Conway said, "Pretending to be an ignorant and impulsive sociopath by appearing to make s--- up as he goes along is just Trump's way of playing 7,822-dimensional chess," which was apparently sarcastic.
Even Republican Congressman Thomas Massie defiantly declared, "This is not America First folks."
Army combat vet Fred Wellman said, "I swear it was just like 8 hours ago when Pete Hegseth said 'This mission was not and has not been about regime change,' to reporters at the Pentagon. That’s weird."
Donald Trump on Sunday contradicted U.S. Vice President JD Vance by suggesting the potential for "regime change" in Iran.
Trump over the weekend brought up the issue following a bombing of three nuclear sites in the Middle Eastern nation.
"It’s not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???" Trump asked on his Truth Social platform. He then added, "MIGA!!!"
The comments come "just hours after Vance goes on the Sunday shows saying that the U.S. isn't interested in a regime change," according to veteran reporter Jake Sherman.
"I’ve been on the phone nonstop, speaking to sources across the globe, gathering real-time intelligence—not recycled headlines, not speculation—real insight into what’s actually happening behind the scenes," he said, noting that "what the media isn’t reporting is even worse" than what journalists are currently disseminating.
"While CNN and MSNBC talk in circles about whether Trump has triggered a constitutional crisis by bypassing Congress—or fixate on whether this attack on Iran will spiral into retaliation—they’re playing right into his plan. They’re not asking the real question: Why now?" he asked. "They’re not talking about how this was always about oil, power, and control. About how this strike—this so-called 'surgical obliteration' of Iran’s nuclear facilities—wasn’t some last-minute military move, but a long-orchestrated step in a deal coordinated directly with Vladimir Putin."
According to Parnas, Trump has been wanting to strike Iran, but has been waiting on the OK from a certain foreign leader.
"Trump wanted to hit Iran. The only thing holding him back? Putin’s greenlight. That greenlight’s now been given—and look what’s already unfolding," Parnas wrote, adding that Trump's recent antics are merely distractions from all this.
He added, "Most of the pundits you see on TV have never even been in the same room as Donald Trump. They don’t know him. They don’t know how he talks, how he schemes, how he deals. But I do. I was there. I was his trusted operative, the one he sent to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Bidens."
"I know how he thinks. I know how he weaponizes chaos. And I know what he’s planning next," he then added. "That’s why I’m telling you now: What you’re seeing on the news? That’s the distraction. What I’m telling you here? That’s the real threat."
President Donald Trump's political operation has reportedly launched a new political action committee (PAC) to oust Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican.
On Sunday, Axios reported that Trump's team had created the Kentucky MAGA super PAC after Massie slammed Saturday's strike on Iran. Senior Trump advisers Tony Fabrizio and Chris LaCivita were expected to run the organization.
According to the report, the PAC was in the works before Massie's criticism. LaCivita said the group would spend "whatever it takes" to oust the congressman.
It was said to be Trump's first effort to unseat a sitting Republican.
"It was a good week for the neocons in the military-industrial complex who want war all the time," Massie said during a Sunday interview. "I wouldn't call my side of the MAGA base isolationists. We are exhausted. We are tired from all of these wars, and we're non-interventionists."
Trump later responded by lashing out at Massie on Truth Social.
"Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is," Trump wrote. "Massie should drop his fake act and start putting America First, but he doesn't know how to get there — he doesn't have a clue!"
Anti-nuclear groups and progressives in U.S. Congress were among those condemning President Donald Trump's bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran, which were launched Sunday morning local time and came despite widespread disapproval in the U.S. of the country becoming involved in Israel's recent attacks on the Middle Eastern country.
Trumpannounced Saturday night in Washington, D.C. that six B-2 bombers had dropped 12 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs on Fordo, Iran's most protected underground uranium enrichment site. Other targets included a plant at Natanz and one near Isfahan.
Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear program is used for peaceful civilian purposes, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the country has not begun making a nuclear bomb with its enriched uranium. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodged a question at a press briefing about whether new intelligence showed that Iran had decided to build a nuclear weapon.
Iranian officials were involved in negotiations with the U.S. when Israel began attacking sites across Iran earlier this month, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahumaking his latest claim that the Iranians "could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time" if nuclear targets were not obliterated.
The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that "several people" were injured in the attack on Fordo.
Trump said in recent days that he had not decided whether the U.S. would get directly involved in Israel's war, but flight tracking data showing B-2 bombers crossing the Pacific Ocean on Saturday provoked suspicions that a U.S. attack could be imminent.
Melissa Parke, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said the Trump administration was "breaking international law" by entering Israel's assault on Iran.
"Military action against Iran is not the way to resolve concerns over Tehran's nuclear program. Given that U.S. intelligence agencies assess Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons, this is a senseless and reckless act that could undermine international efforts to prevent the further proliferation of nuclear weapons," said Parke. "The U.S. should have continued to pursue the diplomatic process underway before Israel resorted to the illegal use of force. This does not make the region or the world safer... The U.S. must stop all military action and return to the diplomatic path."
In the U.S. Democratic lawmakers condemned the attack as one that violated the Constitution, which requires congressional authorization for the use of military force—although both Democratic and Republican presidents have unilaterally approved attacks on foreign countries in recent decades.
"President Trump sending U.S. troops to bomb Iran without the consent of Congress is a blatant violation of our Constitution," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). "The American people do not want another forever war. We have seen where decades of endless war in the Middle East gets us—all based on the lie of 'weapons of mass destruction.' We are not falling for it again... Congress must act immediately to exert its war powers and stop this unconstitutional act of war."
Members of Congress have introduced three proposals, including two War Powers Resolutions, to stop the Trump administration from taking military action against Iran without congressional authorization. At least 59 Democrats and one Republican have signed on to the measures.
Top Democratic leaders including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) were not among them as of Saturday, when Trump launched the attack, and both had defended Israel's bombardment of Iran.
Schumer signed on as a co-sponsor of Sen. Tim Kaine's War Powers Resolution after the U.S. bombings were announced and urged an immediate vote on the resolution.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Trump's "disastrous decision" to unilaterally bomb Iran was "absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment."
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Sunday that Trump had "betrayed" the country with which his administration had recently been negotiating and had "deceived his own voters."
Iran "reserves all options to defend its security interests and people," said Araghchi at a news conference in Istanbul. "My country has been under attack, under aggression, and we have to respond based on our legitimate right of self-defense."
Before the U.S. attack, Iran had said it would attack U.S. bases in the Middle East if Trump joined Israel's war.
Raed Jarrar, advocacy director for Democracy for the Arab World Now, said Trump's actions "will most likely lead to retaliation from Iran that puts American troops and citizens across the Middle East in harm's way" and called for the passage of a War Powers Resolution "to prohibit further U.S. military involvement, even in the event of retaliation."
"We need de-escalation, not more bombs," said Jarrar.
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Trump had "fallen into Israel's trap quite easily" as Netanyahu seeks "to make our nation even more complicit than it already is with its genocide in Gaza and its multiple attacks on nations in the region."
"This attack, carried out under pressure from the out-of-control Israeli government, took place despite the longstanding conclusion by our nation's intelligence community that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons," said Awad. "Just as President [George W.] Bush started a disastrous war in Iraq pushed by war hawks, neoconservatives, and Israeli leaders like Netanyahu, President Trump has attacked Iran based on the same type of false information put forward by those who consistently seek to drag our nation into unnecessary and catastrophic wars."
"We must not engage in any further action against Iran," added Awad, "and should end our government's support for a rogue nation that seeks to dominate the region through a seemingly unending campaign of death, starvation, ethnic cleansing, and destruction."
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said the attack was carried out "because Trump and other American leaders still haven't figured out how to tell Netanyahu, 'No.'"
"If Netanyahu lit the negotiating table on fire, Trump just added kerosene to it. Diplomatic channels with Iran will be effectively ended," said Abdi.
"Iran hawks have always been clear: They view the war that Israel started last week not as a one-off, but as a regular occurrence," he added. "They want to keep bombing Iran whenever and wherever they please. It does, indeed, look like it could be a new forever war that the American people don't want and Trump pledged he'd avoid... Trump let slip the dogs of war, and the way ahead seems more perilous than ever. At this dark hour, we must all work together to rebuild a path toward peace."
The Arms Control Association warned that while Iran's nuclear sites sustained damage, "military strikes alone cannot destroy Iran's extensive nuclear knowledge" and would likely strengthen "Tehran's resolve to reconstitute its sensitive nuclear activities, possibly prompting it to consider withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and possibly proceeding to weaponization."
"Though the prospect for negotiations on a longer term framework to contain Iran's sensitive nuclear activities have been damaged severely, this remains the best possible long-term path to prevent further nuclear weapons proliferation," said the organization. "Trump needs a plan for de-escalation and engagement."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) speaks to reporters. Photo: Reuters 
Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene , Lauren Boebert and Anna Paulina Luna sit in an Oversight Committee Hearing. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque