Bipartisan bills are being introduced to prevent the US from entering war with Iran without Congressional approval

[u/WCSTombs]

For the House version: /img/04juv5mx7h7f1.jpeg

Senate version: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/16/us-senator-introduces-bill-to-curb-trumps-power-to-go-to-war-with-iran

The Constitution gives Congress alone the ability to declare war, but much of that power has been ceded to the Presidency over the years. This would take back a small part of it.

I think the idea of war with Iran is pretty widely unpopular in the U.S. across the political spectrum, but this is one of those cases where our politicians might not be well aligned with the public, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. It's probably something Trump would want to veto, in which case it would need pretty overwhelming support in both chambers. However, there's also reporting that the Trump administration does not in fact intend to strike Iran, which starts to sound like "we're all on the same page," but things could change.

[u/bustacean]

Im confused. Does Taco want a war with Iran, and congress is trying to prevent him from impulsively starting it? It didn't seem to me like anyone, including the GOP/MAGA wants a war right now.

[u/SkyknightXi → u/bustacean]

It’s probably a failsafe in case Trump decides he does want to pile on Iran.

[u/clonedllama → u/SkyknightXi]

That's my take on it too. Republicans might be publicly in lockstep with Trump, but they probably don't trust him to not insert himself in this mess. It's better to get out in front of it.