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Lawmakers are debating what role Congress should play as the White House hampers options in Iran.
Does the legislative body have the only power to declare war, or should it be handed over to the president?
President Donald Trump will either join Israel in a campaign against Iran, or continue to push diplomatic purposes, returning to the negotiation table and cease nuclear deals with the Islamic Republic.
Tune warns Iran should return to the negotiation table “if they’re smart”
President Donald Trump June 15, 2025 (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Helping to ignite debate on Capitol Hill is a pair of resolutions between the Senate and House of Representatives that require discussion and votes before any forces are used against Iran. The measure is designed to check Trump’s power and reaffirm Congress’ constitutional authority.
Senators on both sides of the aisle are split over whether they believe they have the sole authority to allow strikes against Iran, or whether Trump can do so on his own will. The main argument is that the overall point of supporting Israel is to prevent the Islamic Republic from creating or acquiring nuclear weapons.
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Israel has managed to retrieve some of its infrastructure, which is key to its mission, but has yet to do real damage to its strengthened Fordow fuel enrichment plant, and will need help from the US to crack the rock formations that shield the site.
“The Constitution states that the privilege to declare war is from Congress only, the authority to declare war,” Senator R-Ky told Fox News Digital. “It cannot be born out of the White House. There is no constitutional authority for the president to bomb anybody without first seeking permission.”
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky. is in talks with U.S. Capitol reporters after the House passed one big beautiful bill law on May 22, 2025 (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)
The Constitution divides the power of war between Congress and the White House, giving lawmakers the only power to declare war, and the president acts as commander of the army.
Then came the War Power Act of 1973. This further defined these roles and sought to ensure that the President must provide Congress notices within 48 hours of deployment of troops that can only be deployed for 60 days. In particular, Congress has not formally declared war since World War II.
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“There’s really no argument as to why he couldn’t follow the Constitution,” Paul said. “Now my hope is that he won’t do it, his instinct for restraint will win.”
Fox News reached the White House for comment.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) opposed Paul, saying he believes Trump has the ability to approve the strike, but admits that he is “mixed” and “clouded” given the War Power Act.
“It’s clear that both Congress and the President have a role to play,” he said. “But if you are proposing, if the president comes to Congress the first to make that decision, it is conditional on the year you want to make a decision to Congress.
Senator Tim Kane, D-Va. talks with the reporter. (Reuters)
Senate majority leader John Tune, Rs.D. He reiterated to reporters that Trump believes he is “fully with the right to do what he has done so far,” and that his ultimate goal is to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.
Senate Republicans are Senator John Fetterman’s D-PA, who has been fiercely defending Israel while his party is shaking.
Fetterman told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t believe the strike against Iran “started a war,” and that it reflects Thune’s sentiment, “There’s a very specific mission to destroy nuclear facilities. It’s not war. It’s a necessary military… a movement to destroy nuclear facilities.”
R-Wis. Sen. Ron Johnson of the Fox News Digital told Fox News Digital “whether the War Power Act is a constitutional law,” but he said the law still gave the president the authority to act as commander.
“If President Trump decides to support Israel in military operations in a bomb that breaks a bunker, I think that’s a pretty much unrelated point,” Johnson said. “That’s within the time frame where he comes under some kind of council action.”
R-Wis. Senator Ron Johnson arrives at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on April 3, 2025 at the Darksen Senate Office building (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Still, D-Va introduced a resolution on Monday on war power. Sen. Tim Kane believed the measure was gaining momentum among his colleagues.
Kaine told Fox News Digital that as the event developed, it made the “urgency” of his resolution more clear. He also hoped to get a vote in the Senate next week. He argued that some Republicans “want to be in the midst of hostilities with Iran.”
“But what’s interesting is that they’ve never introduced a permit for war because their members say, ‘Are you unt?’,” he said. “And they want the president to do it, but they don’t want to do it on their own.”
When asked if it was a move to shift responsibility elsewhere, Kane said, “I think they’ll do, but it’s not.”
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital, which covers the US Senate.
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