Democrats in the Senate have now failed — count ’em — FOUR separate times to pass a War Powers Resolution against President Trump’s Iran operation. The latest vote went down 52-47 on April 15th. The only Republican who sided with them was Rand Paul, which honestly just proves the resolution was unserious.
Four swings. Four misses. And now they’re stomping around Capitol Hill screaming that the whole thing is “flat-out illegal” while accomplishing absolutely nothing about it. Classic.
Here’s what’s actually happening: The War Powers Resolution gives a president 60 days to conduct military operations without explicit congressional authorization. That 60-day window on Operation Epic Fury closes May 1st. Democrats have been trying to use this deadline as leverage, but they can’t get the votes because — and this is the part that makes them furious — most of America is fine with hitting Iran.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who apparently thinks she’s the only veteran in Washington, went on the Senate floor and declared: “This war is flat-out illegal. Trump didn’t have the authority to launch it in the first place.”
Really, Tammy? Because your colleagues just voted to let it continue. Maybe check with the rest of your caucus before you hold a press conference.
Meanwhile, the White House pointed out that the administration has provided over 30 bipartisan briefings to Congress since before operations even began. Thirty. That’s more transparency than Obama gave on Libya, more than Biden gave on… well, anything. But sure, tell us again how Trump is operating in the shadows.
The beautiful part is what happens now. The May 1st deadline arrives, and Democrats have two options: fund the operation (which they’ll do, because voting to defund troops in the field is political suicide), or file a lawsuit that will go absolutely nowhere while Trump continues doing what he’s doing.
Sen. Tim Kaine — remember him? Hillary’s running mate? Still in the Senate somehow? — is out there promising “a constitutional confrontation.” Buddy, you’ve been promising constitutional confrontations for six years. You couldn’t even win a VP debate against Mike Pence. Sit down.
Here’s what Democrats won’t admit: the reason they can’t get 60 votes is because their own members know this operation is popular. When the guy shooting missiles at international shipping lanes and enriching uranium at breakneck speed finally catches American hands, voters aren’t exactly weeping about it. Polling shows majority support for the strikes. Democrats in swing states aren’t going to go home and explain why they tried to tie the president’s hands while Iran was funding proxy attacks across the Middle East.
So they do this dance. They hold pressers. They invoke the Constitution (which they ignore on literally every other issue). They demand “accountability” — from the administration that gave them 30 briefings.
And they lose. Again.
The House Democrats are reportedly preparing their own War Powers vote. Great. Wonderful. That’ll go about as well as the last four attempts on the Senate side. Nancy Pelosi isn’t around anymore to whip votes, and the current House leadership couldn’t organize a two-car funeral.
Operation Epic Fury continues. The deadline is just a number on a calendar. And somewhere in the Senate cloakroom, Tim Kaine is writing another sternly-worded letter that no one will read.
We’re four months into the Trump second term, and Democrats still haven’t figured out that losing votes 52-47 isn’t a “constitutional crisis” — it’s just losing.
