President Donald Trump’s bold strikes on Iran have Democrats clutching their pearls. The June 2025 military action, launched without congressional approval, has sparked a firestorm in Washington. Suddenly, the party of selective outrage is dusting off the War Powers Act and whispering impeachment.
Trump’s unilateral move against Iran in June 2025, citing imminent threats, has Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries decrying the action as unconstitutional, while conveniently ignoring similar moves by their own party’s presidents. The strikes, which complied with the War Powers Act’s notification requirement, have reignited a decades-old debate over presidential war powers. Congress, historically sidelined, is now scrambling to assert its authority.
Trump notified Congress within 48 hours of the strikes, as required by the War Powers Act. This law limits military action to 60 days without congressional approval, plus a 30-day withdrawal period. Yet, Democrats, led by Schumer, are pushing for a vote to rein in the president’s actions.
“No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war,” Schumer thundered. Funny, he didn’t mind when Barack Obama bombed Libya in 2011 without a congressional nod. The hypocrisy is thicker than a D.C. summer.
Obama’s Libya campaign, like Trump’s Iran strikes, bypassed Congress entirely. A bipartisan group challenged Obama in court, but the effort fizzled. The Constitution’s requirement for Congress to declare war has been a quaint relic since World War II’s last formal declaration in 1942.
Since then, over 125 military campaigns—from Korea to Iraq—have unfolded without Congress declaring war. Bill Clinton’s 1998 cruise missile strikes on Sudan and Afghanistan enjoyed Democratic cheers. War powers only matter when the other team’s in charge.
Clinton also ignored the War Powers Act’s 60-day limit during the 1999 Kosovo bombing, with courts shrugging it off as a “political question.” In 2013, Obama sought but was denied congressional approval for Syria strikes, yet proceeded anyway. Trump’s compliance with the War Powers Act’s notification keeps him within its loose framework, unlike his predecessors’ bolder dismissals.
The War Powers Act and Authorization for Use of Military Force have been toothless, routinely ignored by presidents of both parties. Even Thomas Jefferson took on the Barbary Pirates without Congress’s blessing. The Framers’ vision of clear congressional authority over war has been eroded by decades of executive overreach.
Democrats’ impeachment threats ring hollow given this history. The Framers intended impeachment for clear “high crimes and misdemeanors,” not murky war powers disputes. Calling for Trump’s head while excusing Clinton and Obama smells like political theater, not principle.
In Tehran, a pro-Iran demonstration on June 20, 2025, saw worshippers rally with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemning Israel’s separate attacks on Iran. Trump’s strikes, meanwhile, could wrap up within the War Powers Act’s 90-day window. Congress is unlikely to withhold support if the conflict escalates, making impeachment talk more noise than substance.
Schumer’s past silence on Democratic presidents’ unilateral actions undercuts his current crusade. In 2011, Hillary Clinton testified that Obama’s team didn’t need Congress’s input for military moves. Democrats nodded along then, but now they’re shocked—shocked!—at Trump’s playbook.
The War Powers Act requires a written notice to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President pro tempore within 48 hours of military action. Trump followed this to the letter. Yet, Democrats paint him as a rogue while ignoring their own party’s history of bending the same rules.
This controversy, dubbed the “Claude Rains School of Constitutional Law,” thrives on feigned shock at actions long tolerated. Presidents have leaned on Article II’s Commander-in-Chief powers to justify military moves for centuries. Congress, complicit in its inaction, shares the blame for this constitutional drift.
Trump’s 60-day clock under the War Powers Act gives him room to maneuver, with 30 days to withdraw if Congress doesn’t approve. Past presidents, like Clinton in Kosovo, technically complied by wrapping up within 90 days. The law’s flexibility makes Democratic outrage seem more performative than grounded.
Democrats’ sudden devotion to congressional war powers is as convincing as a snake-oil salesman’s pitch. Their impeachment threats and War Powers Act posturing conveniently forget decades of bipartisan precedent. If they want real reform, they’ll need to look beyond political point-scoring and address the root issue: a Congress too timid to reclaim its constitutional role.
