WASHINGTON: US lawmakers will try again next week to pass a resolution to halt the Iran war and force President Donald Trump to obtain Congress’ approval for any further attacks, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday, hours after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire.”Congress must reassert its authority, especially at this dangerous moment,” Schumer told a press conference at his office in New York.
Trump agreed to the ceasefire on Tuesday, less than two hours before his deadline for Tehran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face devastating attacks on its civilian infrastructure.Schumer called Trump’s statements “unhinged” and criticised the war for failing to weaken Iran’s government or rein in its nuclear programme, while global fuel prices have risen.
Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. The Trump administration has sought to portray the war as a decisive victory, although the top US general said US troops stood ready to resume fighting.
The White House says Trump’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the US by ordering limited military operations.Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have tried and repeatedly failed in recent months to pass war powers resolutions to force Trump to obtain lawmakers’ authorisation before launching military operations.
Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress - who hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House - have almost unanimously backed his policies. Although the US Constitution says that Congress, not the president, can declare war, that restriction does not apply for short-term operations or if the country faces an immediate threat.Separately, the Democratic leader in the House, New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, said the House should also vote on a resolution to curb the war on Iran. “We need a permanent end to Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice,” Jeffries said on CNN.
Meanwhile, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid sharply criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday over his support for a temporary US-Iran ceasefire, calling it a “political and strategic failure.”“We have never seen such a political catastrophe in our history. Israel was not even present when decisions were made about the core of our national security,” Lapid said on the US social media platform X.He added that the damage caused by Netanyahu’s “arrogance, negligence and lack of strategic planning” could take years to repair.Lapid stressed that while the military and public had done their part, the government fell short of achieving its goals.
“The army carried out everything it was asked to do, and the people showed extraordinary resilience, but Netanyahu failed politically and strategically and did not achieve any of the goals he set for himself,” he said.His remarks came after Netanyahu’s office said Israel supports US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend military strikes against Iran for two weeks.
However, Netanyahu’s office said the two-week ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.”Trump announced on Tuesday that he agreed “to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”
