‘Evacuate Tehran’
President Donald Trump warned Iranians to “immediately evacuate Tehran” in a Monday afternoon post on Truth Social, raising the prospect of a major escalation in the ongoing war between Israel and Iran—or suggesting that America might join the conflict in a more direct way.
Or was that statement just Trumpian bluster that everyone should ignore? The White House pretty quickly walked back the seriousness of Trump’s post. One official told CNN that Trump’s statement merely “reflected the urgency of the need for Iran to come to the table” for negotiations, while an administration spokesman told Axios that “American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed.”
Well, OK. But who is actually in charge over there? When the president of the United States speaks (or posts), people listen. And telling a city of 17 million that is currently under bombardment to immediately “evacuate” is a serious thing, even if the president’s handlers want everyone to ignore it.
Congress? Doing something? Probably not, but maybe! Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) said Monday that he will introduce a resolution today that would prohibit American involvement in the Iran-Israel war.
“This is not our war,” Massie wrote on X. “But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”
He got some immediate support from across the aisle. Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Calif.) is co-sponsoring the resolution, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) chimed in to say she was “signing on” to the proposal as well. Meanwhile, Sen. Tim Kaine (D–Va.) has introduced his own resolution in the upper chamber to curtail American involvement in the conflict.
These congressional efforts draw upon the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which Congress passed over the veto of then-President Richard Nixon in response to U.S. bombings in Cambodia. Imagine a legislature willing to do that! The law requires that presidents get approval from Congress before committing American forces—either a declaration of war or an authorization for the use of military force—and allows Congress to terminate any ongoing, unauthorized deployment. As Kaine’s office says, the resolution ensures “a public debate and vote in Congress as intended by the framers of the Constitution.”
That’s important. So, too, is the clarity and stability that would result from a clear congressional signal about America’s role in this conflict. The world clearly won’t get that from the president.
Speaking of presidential instability:Â The Trump administration is reportedly restarting workplace immigration raids just days after
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