1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to return to Congress immediately and invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution to halt unauthorized military action against Iran. President Trump's strikes conducted with Israel on Saturday violated constitutional requirements for congressional approval of military action, and Congress must act before this escalates into another prolonged Middle East conflict. The administration provided virtually zero notice to Congress before these strikes. According to Senator Tim Kaine, only the Secretary of State called the Speaker of the House. The gang of eight national security experts received only a last-minute alert. This deliberate circumvention of congressional authority appears designed to preempt the war powers resolution vote scheduled for next week that Senator Kaine co-sponsored with Senator Rand Paul. During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Trump spent just three minutes of his one hour and 48 minute speech explaining these strikes. This stands in stark contrast to the prolonged public campaign that preceded the 2003 Iraq War. The American people deserve a full explanation and justification before being pulled into another broad Middle East conflict. The 1973 War Powers Resolution, passed after Vietnam to prevent exactly this type of presidential overreach, is clear. It requires consultation with Congress, 48-hour notification for troop deployments, and imposes a 60-day limit on unauthorized engagements. As Senator Kaine noted, this act can be invoked even after hostilities have begun. Senator Ruben Gallego said it plainly: young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that has not been explained or justified to the American people. He lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war. We cannot repeat that mistake. I urge you to return to Congress for classified briefings and public testimony, vote on the pending war powers resolutions, and exercise your constitutional authority to prevent another unauthorized war.