Sen. Dan Sullivan is doubling down on his support for the U.S. war on Iran.
While Senate Democrats assert that only Congress has the authority to declare a war, Sullivan said Tuesday that the U.S. did not start this conflict.
“To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, wake up,” he said at an Armed Services Committee hearing. “This country's been at war with us for almost a half century, and they've killed thousands and wounded thousands of our best and brightest.”
Minor fault lines have emerged among Republicans as Congress gears up for a vote to require President Trump to get Congressional approval for the war. Some in the MAGA faction say it doesn’t fit with the America First agenda and worry it could become prolonged. Still, it’s unlikely that more than a handful of Republicans will vote to constrain Trump. And Sullivan has made it clear he fully backs the decision to strike Iran.
“It's been a bipartisan goal of every president to make sure the Iranians don't get nukes and don't get ballistic missiles, and that's what the President and our brave troops are undertaking right now,” he said.
Compared to Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has so far sounded more neutral. She said, in a social media post Saturday the Iranian regime needs to be held to account. She also said the administration should provide information to Congress “so we fully understand the scope, objectives, and risks of any further military action.”
She attended an all-senators classified briefing Tuesday. Afterward, she didn’t say whether she received the explanation she's seeking.
Trump cited several reasons for the war in a letter to Congress Monday, including defense of the homeland. The letter doesn’t explicitly cite regime change as an objective, though it says U.S. forces are ready to ensure that Iran “ceases being a threat to the United States, its allies and the international community.”
Senate Democrats say the administration has given a shifting series of objectives. Responding to Sullivan at Tuesday's hearing, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Democrats don’t need convincing that the Iranian regime is an enemy.
“The reason why there's so much consternation is because President Trump has not given us a clear reason why he is in Iran,” she said. “If he wants to declare war on Iran, that is the job and responsibility of Congress under the Constitution. So he is subverting our authority in every respect.”
Like Sullivan, Alaska Congressman Nick Begich is also backing Trump’s decision to strike Iran. In a statement on Saturday, he said half-measures have only emboldened Tehran and that the path forward should be centered on removing the leadership.
Iran’s supreme leader and other officials were killed at the outset but the Islamic Republic is still asserting it has control of the country.
