In what appears to be an effort to head off any Republican support for legislation sponsored by the Democrat Veterans Caucus to prohibit funding of military operations against Iran, some Congressional Republicans are moving to make the U.S. Congress complicit in U.S. President Donald Trump’s war of aggression against Iran by introducing legislation to authorize it. GOP Rep. Tom Barrett (MI) has introduced “an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to provide a clear and defined mission objective, limit the scope of approved military action, and establish a firm deadline for the conflict in Iran. Specifically, the AUMF would give President Donald Trump 90 days of the congressional authority required to successfully demolish, degrade, or defeat the nuclear weapons program of Iran and its proxies without putting American boots on the ground or engaging in nation-building,” according to a May 7 statement issued by Barrett’s office
Under Barrett’s AUMF—which clearly parrots Trump and self-styled “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth’s rhetoric that their administration’s wars are different from G.W. Bush’s “nation building adventures” in Iraq and Afghanistan—the U.S. military can take action to “Demolish, degrade, or defeat Iran’s nuclear weapons program and associated delivery systems; address imminent threats to our Armed Forces or U.S. facilities by Iran or Iranian proxies; enforce a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz while ensuring safe passage for U.S. and allied vessels.”
The bill prohibits troops on the ground in Iran, except for rescue missions and intelligence collection: nation-building or establishing long-term governance of Iran; and occupying or seizing territory within Iran. It also sets a hard end date of July 30, 2026, ninety days after the Trump Administration’s May 1 War Powers Act notification to Congress.
“Two things have been clear from the very beginning: Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the United States of America cannot be dragged into another endless war,” said Barrett. “The Commander in Chief has the sole authority to lead our troops in wartime, but I’ve lost too many friends on the battlefield to allow that to happen without Congress exercising its constitutional role to clearly define the mission with safeguards and a deadline. If we don’t learn from our foreign policy failures of the past, we are bound to repeat them.”
In the Senate, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is reportedly drafting a similar resolution.
