Congressional Republicans are largely supportive of the decision by President Donald Trump to launch strikes against Iran over the weekend, although some say they still have questions about what comes next.
Administration officials met with members of the Gang of Eight on Monday, a group consisting of party leaders in both the House and Senate as well as top lawmakers on the congressional intelligence committees. The full House and Senate will get briefings on Tuesday, during which lawmakers say they plan to ask about the administration’s plans moving forward.
“With the Khamenei regime destroyed, I am looking forward to the Senate briefing this week on the Iran strikes before any next steps in Congress,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee told the Deseret News in a statement. “I hope Utahns will join me in praying for peace and for the courageous men and women of our armed forces.”
Shortly after reports of the strikes, Democrats were quick to criticize the Trump administration for failing to get congressional authorization ahead of the military action. Only Congress can approve an act of war under the Constitution.
However, Republicans say Trump has the authority under the 2001 Authorized Use of Military Force previously approved by Congress over two decades ago after the Sept. 11 attacks that allows the president to use military force on certain groups.
“Iran provided a safe harbor to Al Qaeda militants immediately after the 9/11 attacks and allowed its senior leaders to base their operations there,” Utah Rep. Blake Moore, the fifth-highest-ranking member in the House Republican Conference, said in a statement. “I’m saddened at the loss of the service members who were killed, and my prayers are with their families and other military members who were injured. We have many service members currently in harm’s way, and I hope and pray for their safety.”
Moore also laid out three solutions to “long-standing problem sets” that he hopes the Trump administration will address in the wake of the strikes. Among those is “eliminating the acute conventional threat” posed by Iran toward the United States; ensuring Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons; and helping the Iranian people establish their own government system so “that the people of Iran can come to speak without fear.”
Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy also characterized the strikes as necessary action to “protect the American people.” Still, he said he expects continued briefings from the administration.
“We must be frank about the reality of the Iranian regime. It is a brutal theocratic dictatorship that has spent forty years exporting violence across the world, ruthlessly suppressing its own people, and making no secret of its intent to destroy America,” Kennedy said. “Our strategic objectives should remain disciplined and targeted with clear-end points in mind. Let me be clear: no objective is more important than the protection of American lives and my heart is heavy for those that we’ve already lost.”
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, responded to the strikes in a statement on Monday evening, praising the military action as crucial to having Iran “no longer under the oppressive hand of the Ayatollah.”
“The Iranian people now have a chance at a future free from fear or repression,” Owens said. “The Iranian government’s hatred of America, her values, and her allies along with their goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon brought them to this point. A nuclear armed Iran was never going to be allowed and President Trump has ensured they never will be.”
Utah Sen. John Curtis was among the first in the delegation to respond to the strikes on Saturday morning, calling Iran a “destabilizing force,” and saying peace “is preserved through strength and resolve.” Curtis has taken a special interest in the Middle East, having lived briefly in Israel and traveled to the region while serving in Congress.
“For decades, Iran’s regime has acted as a destabilizing force — arming terrorist proxies, mass slaughtering its own people, and pursuing nuclear capabilities with explicit intent to destroy Israel and America," Curtis said in his statement released Saturday after the attacks began. “They have targeted and killed Americans abroad and are actively attempting to assassinate Iranians and Americans on U.S. soil, and even the President.”
Curtis added that in his decision, Trump took “planned, targeted action to protect the American people” and that he expects “robust engagement” between the Trump administration and Congress in the coming weeks.
Trump administration briefs Congress
Although Trump did not seek approval from Congress before the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did notify members of the Gang of Eight ahead of the attack, according to the White House.
Rubio briefed the Gang of Eight last week hours before Trump’s State of the Union address, and again on Monday evening when congressional leaders returned to Capitol Hill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., defended the strikes ahead of the classified briefing, telling reporters the action was consistent with what previous administrations have done.
“I think the administration believed that the not just the nuclear but the ballistic missile threat that the Iranians possess is something that threatened our troops in the region, and obviously our allies in the region as well,” Thune said. “The entire leadership of the Iranian regime has essentially been taken out. So they’ve got a unique opportunity and moment in history in which they can make a decision about whether or not they want to create a democracy and be a partner with the world, instead of constantly threatening the world and, more specifically, their neighborhood.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., echoed similar sentiments after the briefing on Monday concluded, telling reporters he was “very satisfied” with the information that was shared. Johnson noted action was necessary as Israel was prepared to act “with or without American support” due to what they perceived as an existential threat.
“Iran was building missiles at a a rapid pace to the point where our allies in the region could not keep up,” Johnson said. “(The administration) determined ... that if Israel fired upon Iran and took action against Iran to take out the missiles, then they would have immediately retaliated against U.S. personnel and assets.”
“If we had waited for all of those eventualities to take place, the consequences of inaction on our part would have been, could have been devastating,” Johnson added.
The House and Senate are both expected to vote on legislation this week that would rein in Trump’s military authority in Iran, although it’s not yet clear if it has the support to pass.
Some Republicans are considering to vote for limiting Trump’s authority, but say they need more clarity from the administration before making a decision.
“If it’s (like) Venezuela — done, out by the end of week — may be one thing," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said on Monday. “If there’s an intent to be there longer term, then clearly Congress has a role to play.”
Trump administration officials stop short of saying they’ll pursue regime change
Thune stopped short of saying how involved the U.S. should be with any regime change, arguing instead the country should be responsible for “creating the conditions that are favorable in order for that to happen.” The top Senate Republican didn’t directly say whether he’d support sending “boots on the ground,” but noted he doesn’t “see that happening.”
“I’m not prepared at this point to say what is and what isn’t out, but I do think in terms of objectives, it’s clearly using our naval and air assets in the region to significantly diminish the capabilities of the terror regime in Iran,” Thune said.
Rubio appeared to rule out regime change as the primary goal for the United States, but said the administration would welcome it.
“We would not mind, we would not be heartbroken, and we hope that the Iranian people can overthrow this government and establish an issue,” Rubio said. “We’d love for that to be possible.”
Instead Rubio said the main objective was to destroy Iran’s missile capability and its navy.