‘Guardrail against stupidity’ fail? Senate refuses to limit ‘King’ Trump’s power to obliterate Iran

The US Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have blocked war on Iran without congressional approval, as loyalty to the military-industrial complex apparently overcame urges to rein in President Donald Trump.

The Republican-controlled Senate has defeated an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would have forced Trump to obtain approval from Congress to wage war on Iran or any other country using Defense Department funds.

Despite much talk from both parties about ensuring that “any military action [be] carried out Constitutionally” after Trump supposedly came within 10 minutes of striking multiple Iranian targets in response to the downing of a pricey surveillance drone, the bill was shot down Friday afternoon following a six-hour debate on the Senate floor. It needed a 60-vote supermajority to pass, and received only 50 votes, with 40 opposed.

Among the opponents was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who condemned the amendment as a sign of weakness that would “hamstring” Trump’s ability to respond to foreign provocations.

“I don't think it's good for this country to see the Iranians observing us arguing over all this,” he said before the vote, admitting he hoped it would be defeated.

“Iran is a threat,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) agreed. “They are watching, make no mistake about it. We cannot play games with the National Defense Authorization Act.”

While four Republicans broke ranks to support the bipartisan measure, proposed by Senators Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), their support was not sufficient. The supporters declared a small victory nevertheless, as a similar amendment will be debated in the Democrat-controlled House next month.

“We showed a majority of the Senate believes the president is not the king, and can’t go to war on his own,” Kaine declared, claiming the vote put up a “guardrail against the president doing something stupid.”

Representatives Ro Khanna (D-California) and Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), who introduced the House’s version of the amendment, applauded the Senate vote. It was the longest roll-call vote in Senate history, kept open for a prolonged period in order to accommodate senators returning from the Democratic primary debates in Miami.

Under the US Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war. However, a resolution passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has been used to justify endless military expeditions abroad over the next 18 years, under the rationale of fighting al-Qaeda.

The proposed amendment would have been added retroactively to the 2020 NDAA, which grants the Pentagon a $750 billion budget for the fiscal year, its largest ever. The NDAA was approved in the Senate on Thursday, by a vote of 86 to 8; of the hundreds of amendments proposed by various senators, only the one proposing to limit the president's war-making powers warranted a debate.

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