President Trump on Wednesday vetoed the Iran War Powers resolution, a bipartisan law aimed at limiting his ability to direct attacks against the Islamic Republic’s military forces.
“This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as a part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party,” Trump said in a statement. “The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.”
After approval in the House, the resolution passed the Senate in February by a 55–45 margin, with eight Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues. It “directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.”
Senators Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rand Paul (R., Ky.), both staunch Trump supporters, were among those to back the measure, which was introduced after Trump ordered the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a January airstrike.
Trump ordered the operation in response to the killing of an American contractor by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, as well as the harassment by militias of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Several days after the airstrike on Soleimani, Iran launched ballistic missiles at American positions in Iraq, inflicting serious injuries on dozens of U.S. soldiers. Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet after its ballistic missile strikes, killing all 176 passengers and crew.