The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee slammed President Trump’s remarks about regime change in Tehran in the aftermath of U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said during an interview on CNN U.S. needs to send a clear signal that Washington is not seeking war.
“I mean, just while I’ve been waiting for your program, Donald Trump is tweeting out that he may, he’s joking around about regime change. That is not funny,” Khanna said.
“That is an enormous, costly endeavor,” he added. “And so we need to pass a War Powers Resolution in Congress, preventing an escalation.”
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump raised the prospect of regime change in Iran, despite his top officials saying that the goal of U.S. military operations against the country are solely targeting their nuclear program.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump said.
Khanna, along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is co-sponsoring a War Powers Resolution to prohibit U.S. military action against Iran. Massie is one of a few GOP outliers critical of Trump’s decision to launch attacks against Iran.
“The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn’t attacked the United States,” Massie said in a statement.
“Congress has the sole power to declare war against Iran. The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”
Israel, which launched its own attacks on Iran earlier this month, on Monday said it was carrying out attacks on Iranian government sites and “regime targets” in the wake of Trump publicly musing about regime change in Tehran.