Republicans back Trump's war on Iran - Punchbowl News

Republicans on Capitol Hill are about to give President *Donald Trump *a major boost — a green light to conduct a war against Iran without worrying about Congress, at least for now.

*The House and Senate *are on track this week to vote down a pair of bipartisan war power resolutions aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to conduct the Iran campaign. Rank-and-file Republicans are prepared to back Trump, giving them co-ownership of a conflict that’s already unpopular with Americans.

The Senate is likely to vote Wednesday, with the House set to vote on Thursday. The House and Senate will receive separate briefings on Iran this afternoon from top administration officials.

*Who to watch. *In the Senate, previous GOP skeptics of Trump’s unilateral war-making authority say they’re comfortable with the president’s efforts on Iran.

*Sen. Josh Hawley *(R-Mo.) waffled on a Venezuela war powers resolution in January before ultimately voting against it. But Hawley said he’d oppose this Iran war powers measure, which is led by Sen. *Tim Kaine *(D-Va.). The Missouri Republican cautioned that he might change his mind if Trump deployed ground forces during the Iran conflict.

“I’ve always said that committing ground troops would be something, I think, that would require immediate congressional authorization. But that doesn’t seem to be in the immediate horizon,” Hawley said Monday night.

*Two Republicans *who supported the war powers push on Venezuela — Sens. *Susan Collins *(Maine) and *Lisa Murkowski *(Alaska) — were noncommittal on Iran. Sen. *Todd Young *(R-Ind.), who eventually opposed the Venezuela resolution despite deep reservations, said he’d withhold judgement until after today’s Senate briefing.

“There’s a great deal of concern that this may be a longer war than anyone would want,” Murkowski said. “But I’m also hearing a lot of recognition that what the Iranian people have suffered, not just in recent months but over the decades, is really intolerable.”

*One Democrat, *Sen. *John Fetterman *(Pa.), is expected to be a no on the war powers resolution from Kaine and Sen. *Rand Paul *(R-Ky.).

*In the House, *Speaker *Mike Johnson *believes he’ll have the votes to defeat a similar war powers measure, which he termed “dangerous.”

*Critically, several House Democrats *are seen as skeptical of any vote to limit Trump’s war powers. This includes Reps. *Henry Cuellar *(Texas), *Greg Landsman *(Ohio), *Jared Golden *(Maine) and *Don Davis *(N.C.), according to Democratic lawmakers and aides. House Democratic leaders will work this vote hard to stay unified.

*Reps. Ro Khanna *(D-Calif.) and *Thomas Massie *(R-Ky.) are leading the resolution in that chamber. Other than Massie, GOP leaders believe Rep. *Warren Davidson *(R-Ohio) could vote with Democrats.

*The stakes. *The scale, scope and objectives of the Iran operation are dramatically different from either the Venezuela operation in January to capture President *Nicolás Maduro *or the U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June. GOP congressional leaders were able to rally support to block war powers resolutions in both those cases — with help from Trump.

*This time, *tens of thousands of American troops have been deployed across the Middle East region. Hundreds of American and Israeli warplanes are flying combat missions over Iran. Six U.S. service members have already died. The U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by drones on Monday night. Trump warned the campaign could drag on for at least a month, and he isn’t ruling out the use of ground forces.

This week’s votes will underscore that Republicans own this war and all of the political consequences that come with it. A number of key MAGA figures have been highly critical of the war, while Trump is unhappy with the MAGA reaction. Oil prices surged Monday in response to the war, although the White House has said it will work to counter that.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he’d hope the combat operations end “in the not too distant future” and then prices can “stabilize a bit.”

*The funding question. *Senate Republicans may get the chance to repeatedly endorse the United States’ military operations against Iran — even after this war powers resolution is blocked.

Kaine has pledged to continue forcing the issue through additional war powers votes. And depending on how long this campaign lasts, the Pentagon may soon be seeking extra money from Congress to fund its war effort against Tehran.

Johnson told reporters Monday that the need for an Iran supplemental funding package was discussed during a classified briefing that featured the “Gang of Eight” leaders and other top-ranking bipartisan committee members. But Johnson said nothing was finalized.

“There are more details to be determined on how long the operation goes and what the need is,” Johnson said.

*High-profile testimony. *Congress will hear from Pentagon policy chief *Elbridge Colby *when he appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 9:30 a.m.

Though the hearing **is **ostensibly about the administration’s National Defense Strategy, Colby is sure to face sharp questioning on Iran. Colby will also be trying to sell the panel on improved Hill communications, something he faced unwithering GOP criticism over in the fall.