Last week, Paul and Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Adam Schiff (Ca.) and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) filed a war powers resolution to prevent the administration from engaging Venezuela in conflict without congressional approval.
The Kentucky Republican reiterated he and his colleagues’ push on Wednesday, saying that “if you want war, the president should come to Congress, like the Constitution dictates, and he should ask Congress for a declaration of war.
“That’s what should be going on right now.”
“Obviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio and a former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said on CBS that if the report was accurate, the attack “rises to the level of a war crime.” And on CNN, when asked if he believed a second strike to kill survivors constituted a war crime, Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, answered, “It seems to.”
(November 24, 2025)
Dear Attorney General Bondi and Secretary Hegseth:
We are writing to request expeditious declassification and public release of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel’s written opinion, dated September 5, 2025, concerning the domestic and international legal basis for recent military strikes of certain vessels near South America and the Caribbean, with appropriate redactions necessary to protect military personnel and sensitive intelligence matters.
Significant and noteworthy precedent exists for the public release of OLC opinions related to overseas military action. After the United States carried out military strikes in Libya in 2011 and in Syria in 2018, the Department of Justice released the applicable OLC opinion justifying each operation.
Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force. We therefore believe that the declassification and public release of this important document would enhance transparency in the use of deadly force by our Nation’s military and is necessary to ensure Congress and the American people are fully informed of the legal justification supporting these strikes.
Sincerely,
Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator
Jack Reed
United States Senator
Jeanne Shaheen
United States Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator
Mazie K. Hirono
United States Senator
Tim Kaine
United States Senator
Angus S. King, Jr.
United States Senator
Elizabeth Warren
United States Senator
Gary C. Peters
United States Senator
Tammy Duckworth
United States Senator
Jacky Rosen
United States Senator
Mark Kelly
United States Senator
Elissa Slotkin
United States Senator
Several Senate Democrats crossed the aisle despite getting no guaranteed deal on Obamacare subsidies
The compromise still needs to win approval in the Senate, pass the G.O.P.-controlled House and be signed by President Trump to bring the shutdown to an end.
Here are the eight senators — none of whom face re-election in 2026, and two of whom are retiring at the end of their terms — who broke ranks:
A vote was held to discharge Resolution S.J.Res.90, the Venezuela Hostilities Removal Resolution, a resolution sponsored by Democrats Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff and Republican senator Rand Paul on October 16.
It aimed to invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution which asserts that US military action should be approved by US Congress.
The motion was not agreed to, 49 US senators voting in favour, but 51 voting against.
(07.12.2021)
Tim Kaine and Todd Young were preparing to celebrate a historic victory this month: repealing two outdated war authorizations.
But the Virginina Democrat and the Indiana Republican learned this week that their legislation to scrap the 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations has become a casualty of the Senate’s year-end scramble to pass the annual defense policy bill, lift the debt ceiling and approve President Joe Biden’s social spending plan.
Should lawmakers try to force the issue of updating the 2001 AUMF by establishing an expiration date, one of their best chances would be via an amendment to the must-pass fiscal 2022 defense policy bill that both chambers will take up this fall.
In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) advanced a proposal to repeal two Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) issued in 1991 and 2002.
The legislation, which has already been passed by the House, will now go to a full vote on the Senate floor.
Three Republicans — Todd Young of Indiana, Ohio’s Rob Portman, and Rand Paul of Kentucky — voted with all the panel’s Democrats for repeal, with some Republicans who opposed the move Wednesday arguing that though they support scrapping both AUMFs, the time is not right amid rising tensions with neighboring Iran.
Pelosi says they appear „targeted and proportional“
Schiff says he believes they are „appropriate and reasonable“
Kaine said today it appears to be „classic“ self-defense
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Wednesday that the chamber will hold a veto override vote at 1:30 p.m. It‘s expected to fall short of the two-thirds support needed, effectively ending the attempt to nix Trump‘s veto.
(11.03.2020)
The bipartisan measure amounts to an unusual rebuke of the president’s expansive war powers. President Trump has promised to veto it.
(13.03.2020)
Sen. Tim Kaine introduced the resolution after President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed a top Iranian general.
The vote was 55-45. Eight Republicans voted in favor of it: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Todd Young of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
The U.S. Senate are expected to hold a final vote on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020 on a War Powers resolution that is aimed at restricting President Donald Trump‘s authority to launch military operations against Iran.
Acht Republikaner schlossen sich der Initiative der Demokraten bereits an. Die von den Republikanern dominierte Kammer votierte mit 51 zu 45 Stimmen dafür, die Abstimmung über die Resolution zuzulassen.
The resolution underscores that Congress has the sole power to declare war, as laid out in the Constitution. The resolution also requires that any hostilities with Iran must be explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force. It does not prevent the U.S. from defending itself from an imminent attack.
The U.S. Senate has begun debating a war powers resolution, which was introduced by Senator Tim Kaine.
On Wednesday, Kaine spoke on the Senate floor, urging other members of the congressional chamber to pass the resolution to „prevent further escalation of hostilities with Iran without congressional authorization.“
The U.S. Senate advanced legislation on Wednesday intended to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran, paving the way for a final vote as eight Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the war powers resolution.
On January 9, 2020, the House passed their war powers resolution and this week it is the Senate’s turn. The vote will happen soon. Contact your Senators now and tell them to vote for Sen. Kaine’s war powers resolution! Ensure that trump can not take any further military actions against Iran without congressional approval.
Fill out the form below to send an email to your senators — overseas supporters can scroll down to sign the petition below.
(17.01.2019)
Kudos to Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Todd C. Young (R-Ind.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for their integrity in standing up for the resolution put forward by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that joins the House to remind the administration that the Constitution gave Congress the right to declare war.
The junior senator from Virginia spoke to a full house of students and faculty about war powers and its history, and how we have gotten to where we are now.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are calling on their Senate colleagues to support a proposed resolution aimed at reining in President Trump‘s war powers against Iran.
(1) Congress has the sole power to declare war under article I, section 8, clause 11 of the United States Constitution.
(2) Congress has not yet declared war upon, nor enacted a specific statutory authorization for use of military force against, the Islamic Republic of Iran. The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) against the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack and the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107–243; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) do not serve as a specific statutory authorization for war against Iran, and neither authorize any such action.
Kaine filed a draft of his resolution the day after the Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. drone strike, and he has been working with Republicans to amend the measure so they would support it. As a result, the updated, bipartisan version removes all references to Trump and his administration’s statements and policies regarding Iran.
The resolution, which would give Mr. Trump a 30-day deadline to come to Congress for authorization for military action in Iran, would still need to be passed by the House. And it would be unlikely to overcome a veto from the president.
Mr. Kaine introduced the measure, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973, as a privileged joint resolution, which allows him to force a vote on the measure and win over the support of a simple majority of senators.
Senate Democrats hoping to rein in President Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran secured majority support Tuesday for Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) war powers resolution, but the timing of the measure is now in flux.
In a procedural snafu, Democrats won’t be able to force a vote on the measure until Tuesday at the earliest — the same day the Senate is expected to start Trump’s impeachment trial.