Members of Congress from Massachusetts are deeply skeptical of the Trump Administration’s escalating moves toward possible military action against Iran, with most saying the president is legally obligated to seek approval from Congress. Several tell GBH News they’d reject any pro-war argument if he did.
“I think going to war with Iran is stupid,” Rep. Jim McGovern said. “I mean, we bombed Iran before, several months ago, supposedly to go after their nuclear sites. The president said then it was a victory. He said we obliterated Iran’s nuclear program, and he also said that anybody who suggests otherwise is engaged in fake news. So what is it? Was the last bombing not a success? Are we going to be bombing Iran every year?”
McGovern said Trump is constitutionally obligated to seek Congress’s approval to wage war, but acknowledged the president is unlikely to do so. Rep. Stephen Lynch agreed.
“The president has authorized military force on at least six occasions, from Venezuela to Syria to Iraq to Iran to Somalia, without conferring with Congress … so I’m worried that he will do so again,” Lynch said. “He would have to make his case, and he hasn’t made his case, right? There hasn’t been any dialogue here at all on this.”
Both Lynch and Rep. Bill Keating stressed that any attack on Iran would endanger U.S. military personnel in the region. Keating suggested the administration hasn’t considered the unintended consequences military action could unleash.
“You have to ask, if he did something like this, is he clear about the day after?” said Keating. “It could result in chaos. It could result in a civil war. It could result in a hardening against the U.S. and it could be the inheritors of power would be the military, particularly the Iran Revolutionary Guard.”
Several members of the Mass. delegation said that military conflict with Iran is simply out-of-step with the wants and needs of the American public.
People “want Trump to address the cost of living, from the price of groceries to accessible healthcare to affordable housing,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley said in a statement to GBH News. “Instead, Trump is sidestepping Congress and the Constitution and marching us closer towards another unnecessary war that would further destabilize the region.”
Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Katherine Clark, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the House, posted about their opposition to any attack on Iran on X. And in an interview with CNN, Rep. Jake Auchincloss said that while “coercive diplomacy” against Iran is appropriate, taking military action without congressional approval would be blatantly unconstitutional.
“It’s not Donald Trump’s final decision to make,” Auchincloss said. “The Constitution is super clear about this. You cannot engage U.S. forces into hostilities without congressional authorization. That authorization for the use of military force has not been granted by Congress.”
