War powers fight in Senate runs squarely into impeachment

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.

Senators are now working out the timing of when the resolution will be taken up, but Democrats were celebrating reaching the majority milestone Tuesday.

“The good news from my standpoint is I now have 51 declared votes, with more considering getting on board, so it may be more than 51,” Kaine said.

The resolution was pushed over the top after Republican Sens. Todd Young (Ind.) and Susan Collins (Maine) said Tuesday they would support the measure following changes Kaine made in an effort to win GOP support.

“So I will be supporting shall we call it Kaine 2.0, the newer Kaine language,” Young said. “I just believe that prospectively Congress needs to stand up and take seriously for the first time in a long time our Article One responsibilities to authorize military force as things move forward.”

In her own statement, Collins said she would co-sponsor the revised resolution because Congress “cannot be sidelined on these important decisions.”

“The Kaine resolution would continue to allow the president to respond to emergencies created by aggression from any hostile nation, including Iran, and to repel an imminent attack by Iran or its proxy forces. It also does not alter the president’s inherent authority as commander in chief to defend our nation and U.S. forces abroad,” she said. “It simply makes clear that only the legislative branch may declare war or commit our armed forces to a sustained military conflict with Iran.”

Young and Collins joined Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Mike Lee (Utah), who said they would support Kaine’s resolution last week after being infuriated by the Trump administration’s closed-door briefing on Iran.

With every Democrat expected to support the resolution, four Republicans creates the simple majority it needed to pass.

The Senate is barreling toward a vote to check Trump’s war-making authority amid continued questions about the administration’s justification for a drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The administration has offered shifting explanations for why they carried out the strike, from citing Soleimani’s past attacks to claiming without evidence that he was plotting “imminent” attacks.

On Monday, Trump argued on Twitter it “doesn’t really matter” if Soleimani was planning imminent attacks because of his “horrible past.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was initially scheduled to get another closed-door briefing Wednesday from State Department officials on authorities for the use of force against Iran, but the meeting was canceled on Tuesday evening.

The House approved a war powers resolution last week in a largely party-line vote. The type of resolution Democrats used does not require Trump’s signature but may also not be legally binding.

Kaine’s resolution would be legally binding but would need Trump’s signature — setting Congress up for a veto showdown with Trump. Kaine noted he expects the House will take up his resolution once it passes the Senate.

Senate Democrats were originally expected to force a vote on Kaine’s resolution this week.

But Young and Collins said they wouldn’t support an initial procedural vote on Kaine’s original resolution, quashing a plan to get the resolution to the floor this week and then amend it on the floor.

In his bid to win Republican support, Kaine eliminated direct references to Trump from the findings section of the measure over concerns it was too political. He also changed the wording to say the administration must “terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities” against Iran, rather than “removing,” amid concerns that would signal a pullback of U.S. troops from the region.

“I’m not likely to force a vote on Kaine one because I’ve got the votes on Kaine two and not on Kaine one,” Kaine said. “And I do think there’s something virtuous about bringing up the bipartisan version.”

Kaine introduced the second version as its own resolution Thursday, meaning the earliest Democrats can force a vote is Jan. 21.

That puts the resolution on a collision course with the Senate’s impeachment trial, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he expects to start Jan. 21 and which was expected to halt all legislative work.

Kaine said McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are “talking through” the timing of taking up his resolution, but he expressed hope the Senate would be able to take up the measure and conduct the trial simultaneously.

“It’s widely understood that we will be doing other stuff during impeachment,” Kaine said. “The nice thing is leader McConnell and [Sen. John] Cornyn [R-Texas] and Schumer have all said we’re going to be taking up the Kaine war powers resolution soon.”

Schumer added that senators “have to figure out how it intersects with impeachment.”

“It is past time for Congress to place a check on this president,” Schumer said. “On matters of war and peace, congressional oversight, congressional prerogatives are not optional. I urge my colleagues on both sides to vote in favor of the Kaine resolution.”

Though four Republicans now support Kaine’s measure, it’s unclear if he can win over any other Republicans.

McConnell warned Tuesday the resolution “risks jeopardizing what we have gained” in establishing deterrence after the Soleimani strike by telling “Iran we have no stomach for this.”

“America can hardly be defeated on the battlefield,” McConnell said. “But we can be defeated at home on the political front. We can allow ourselves to become divided and play into the hands of our adversaries. Our divisions at home are significant. Let us not allow them to pollute our judgment on foreign affairs. Let’s not make our adversaries’ lives easier by tying our military’s hands.”

A similar resolution from Kaine and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) over the summer got four Republican votes: Paul, Young, Collins and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

Moran said Tuesday he is still undecided on the war powers resolution.

“I’m looking at what’s going to be presented and making a decision if I’m for or against it,” Moran said.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who said last week he would look at the resolution, said Tuesday he would oppose the most recent version of the measure out of concern it would “tie the president’s hands in responding to further potential Iranian aggression.”

“During this time of heightened tensions with Iran, I believe this resolution would undermine our deterrent capability and send the wrong message to Iran,” Romney said in a statement. “The balance of powers between the executive and legislative branches related to the use of military force is a long-standing issue of debate, and it is a debate we should have. However, with American troops in harm’s way, now is not the proper time and this resolution is not the right approach.”