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Trump Has Taken Us to War Illegally

To: Sen. Grassley, Sen. Ernst, Rep. Nunn

From: A verified voter in Des Moines, IA

February 28

I am writing to you today with urgency, grief, and fury. This morning, President Trump launched major military strikes against Iran without a single vote from Congress. He called it a war. He warned American heroes may die. And he did it alone, in the dark, without you — the people’s representatives — having any say whatsoever. Make no mistake: President Trump has unilaterally taken our nation to war, with no imminent threat posed by Iran to the United States, and with no congressional approval. Legal experts are clear — there is no statute that gives him this authority. The Constitution vests the power to declare war in Congress, and Congress alone. Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. Top Congressional Democrats and even some Republicans were only notified by phone shortly before bombs began falling. That is not consultation. That is not governance. That is a dictator doing whatever he pleases while our children are sent to die. Before the Iraq War, President Bush spent months securing congressional authorization. Trump attempted no such vote on Iran. He simply decided. He simply acted. And now we may be at war with a nation of 90 million people, with no plan, no endgame, and no accountability. Legal experts are clear that the main remedies run through Congress — votes to end or restrict military action, aggressive oversight, or impeachment. I am demanding impeachment. I am demanding it because this man has now broken his oath to uphold the Constitution in the most serious way possible — by taking this country to war by himself, for his own reasons, without the consent of the American people or their elected representatives. If you do not act — if you vote against the War Powers Resolution, if you stay silent, if you issue a mealy-mouthed statement and do nothing — then you are complicit in every life that is lost. American lives. Iranian lives. All of them on your hands too. This is your moment. History is watching. Do your job. Respectfully but with all urgency

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