President Donald Trump vetoed a measure on Wednesday that would have restricted his ability to unilaterally wage war against Iran.
Trump was angered by the measure that he claims “purported to direct me to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces in hostilities against Iran.”
“This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party,” Trump said. “The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.”
“Congress should not have passed this resolution,” he added.
Democrats are using Trump’s veto as a way to paint him as a warmonger in the Oval Office.
“Last year, in President Trump’s State of the Union remarks, he said: ‘Great nations do not fight endless wars,'” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who was a primary sponsor of the legislation, in a statement.
“But instead of following through on his word, President Trump vetoed legislation that would help avoid unnecessary war in the Middle East. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to override his veto. Unless there’s a carefully reached consensus in Congress that war is necessary, we should not be sending our troops into harm’s way,” he added.
Liberty Conservative News reported on the measure when it was passed by both chambers with bipartisan support in February:
“On February 13, 2020, eight Senate Republicans voted with all 47 Democrats to restrain President Donald Trump’s power to take military action against Iran.
This will inevitably lead to a veto confrontation between Congress and the White House.
The Senate voted 55-45 on the resolution, which Virginia Senator Tim Kaine put forward. This resolution would compel Trump to withdraw any U.S. troops from military action against Iran within 30 days unless he acquires congressional approval for any military moves.
The eight GOP senators rationalized the vote under the premise that it was bringing back some of the war-making power Congress has yielded to the executive branch during the last few decades. This resolution’s passage was not intended to be a personal insult against Trump.
The Republicans who voted for the resolution were Senators Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Kentucky), Susan Collins (Maine), Todd Young (Indiana), Jerry Moran (Kansas), Lamar Alexander (Tennessee), Bill Cassidy (Louisiana.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).
“This is not about the presidency. … This really is about the proper allocation of power between the three branches of government,” Lee informed reporters.”
Trump was duped yet again by the War Party and the military-industrial complex, as he vetoed a measure that would have gone a long way toward fulfilling his mandate of an “America First” foreign policy.
