Nevada Democratic U.S. Reps. Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee. (Titus and Horsford photos by Jeniffer Solis, Lee photo by Michael Lyle)
The Democrats within Nevada’s congressional delegation are divided in their reactions to the U.S. bombing of Iran, with more progressive members condemning President Donald Trump’s unilateral actions and moderates signaling some level of support.
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the delegation, on Tuesday voted to advance articles of impeachment against Trump introduced by U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, for abuses of power.
The Trump administration carried out the bombings of three nuclear facilities in Iran over the weekend without providing notice and justification to Congressional leaders, a departure from standard protocol but an increasingly popular shortcut for recent presidents.
Green’s efforts were not expected to get far given Republican control of the House. Titus acknowledged as much in a televised interview Sunday, when she was asked by ABC News about U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s separate public call for impeachment. The “votes aren’t there” to impeach Trump, Titus said.
Titus criticized Trump for launching a war “that Congress has not authorized, Nevadans don’t support, and Trump himself said he would never pursue.”
The House vote Tuesday to table Green’s resolution was 344-79, with all Republicans and 128 Democrats voting to stop the effort. Titus was the only Nevada representative to vote to keep the resolution alive.
Titus told ABC News she signed onto a War Powers Resolution “to prevent further U.S. involvement without Congressional approval.” That bipartisan resolution is sponsored by U.S. Reps. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California.
Like Titus, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, a Democrat, issued a statement condemning Trump. He released the statement Monday after Iran retaliated against the U.S. with attacks of its own.
“Right now, air sirens are blaring at U.S. bases across the Middle East because President Trump ignored the dangers that his impulsive air strikes posed for our military personnel,” he said.
Those attacks, on a U.S. military base in Qatar, resulted in no U.S. casualties, national media would later report.
Horsford emphasized that the president “has no authority to entangle the United States in a new war” and that “Congress has not authorized the use of military force.”
He continued, “Trump’s unilateral use of force threatens our troops, undermines our leadership on the world stage, and flies in the face of our Constitution. This Administration must be held accountable, and Congress must assert itself to ensure the American people have a voice in decisions of war and peace.”
While Titus and Horsford outright condemned Trump’s actions, the remaining three members of Nevada’s Democratic delegation in Washington D.C. issued statements suggesting they may find the actions justified.
U.S. Rep. Susie Lee posted on social media that she was awaiting a briefing on “the intelligence that led to the strike and on the status of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.”
She added, “I remain firm in my commitment that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. It cannot be forgotten that the Iranian regime is responsible for funding global terrorism and killing Americans. The regime’s goal is to access nuclear weapons to use against America, Israel, and our other allies.”
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen similarly did not condemn the actions. In a statement, she thanked the military service members “for carrying out this limited, targeted, and hopefully decisive action.”
She continued, “The Iranian Regime has made it clear that they will do everything in their power to destroy the United States and Israel, and their nuclear program has been a means to that end.”
Rosen did, however, say in her statement that the president “must involve Congress before taking any further military action against Iran and must respect Congress’s sole constitutional role in the authorization of the use of force.”
U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in her statement said the Trump administration “must come before Congress with a detailed plan for how to protect our service members and bases overseas, prevent Iran from restarting their nuclear program, and get Iran back to the negotiating table diplomatically.”
She continued, “I stand ready to work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure we continue to support Israel and keep Americans and our allies safe. But this administration must not push the U.S. into a war with Iran.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Israel and Iran appeared to be honoring a ceasefire announced by Trump the day prior. However, that shaky status came after a night of bombings from both sides, which drew the ire of Trump.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” Trump told news reporters before leaving the White House for a NATO summit in Europe.
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Author: April Corbin Girnus
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