Most Republicans support strike as Dems demand answers

(ABC NEWS) — Republicans were mostly supportive of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday as Democrats demand answers and call for lawmakers to return to Washington to vote on resolutions that would check President Donald Trump’s power to wage war.

Republicans for the most part praised Trump’s decision to undertake “massive combat operations” against Iran, with an eye towards liberating the Iranian people.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune applauded the president’s strikes on Iran and commended the “bravery” of U.S. service members.

“Despite the dogged efforts of the president and his administration, the Iranian regime has refused the diplomatic off-ramps that would peacefully resolve these national security concerns,” Thune said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who was briefed ahead of the strikes on Iran, said he is in “close contact” with President Trump and the administration as the “operation proceeds.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of Trump’s most ardent supporters, said in a post on X “the end of the largest state sponsor of terrorism is upon us” and celebrated “freedom” for the Iranian people.

“My mind is racing with the thought that the murderous ayatollah’s regime in Iran will soon be no more,” he said in another post. “The biggest change in the Middle East in a thousand years is upon us.”

Across the aisle, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate “should quickly return to session and reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act.”

“The administration must brief Congress, including an immediate all senators classified briefing and in public testimony, to answer these vital questions,” Schumer, D-N.Y., added.

Schumer said the administration has failed to provide Congress and the public with “critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat.”

The White House is working to arrange full Senate and House member briefings on the Iran strikes this week, according to an administration official and congressional leadership aides.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to members of the so-called Gang of 8 to notify them of the operation in Iran before it was underway, multiple congressional offices confirmed to ABC News.

Members of the Gang of 8 include the top House and Senate leaders from both parties and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, an Arkansas Republican briefed ahead of the strikes in Iran, said the president’s move was justified.

“Prior to the initiation of this action, in earnest diplomatic engagements with Iran, President Trump was very clear about his red line from the start and his expectations of Iran during these negotiations. Iran absolutely cannot be allowed to maintain a nuclear weapon or capabilities,” he said in a statement posted on X. “The safety and security of Americans and our allies are on the line.”

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said “everything I have heard from the Administration before and after these strikes on Iran confirms this is a war of choice with no strategic endgame.”

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia also called on the Senate to return to Washington immediately to vote on a war powers resolution to check the president’s authority to wage war with Iran.

“Has President Trump learned nothing from decades of U.S. meddling in Iran and forever wars in the Middle East?” Kaine said in a statement.

“These strikes are a colossal mistake, and I pray they do not cost our sons and daughters in uniform and at embassies throughout the region their lives,” he added.

“The Senate should immediately return to session and vote on my War Powers Resolution to block the use of U.S. forces in hostilities against Iran. Every single Senator needs to go on the record about this dangerous, unnecessary, and idiotic action,” he said.

Kaine’s war powers resolution is co-sponsored by Schumer and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus is “committed” to compelling a war powers resolution vote next week when the House returns.

“Donald Trump failed to seek Congressional authorization prior to striking Iran. Instead, the President’s decision to abandon diplomacy and launch a massive military attack has left American troops vulnerable to Iran’s retaliatory actions,” Jeffries said in a statement.

Both efforts in the House and Senate will receive some bipartisan support, but it’s unclear if they will have enough votes to actually pass both chambers. Republicans narrowly defeated votes on war powers resolutions in both chambers following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran last year.

As strikes were underway on Saturday, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said that after the “Iranian regime has slaughtered thousands of its own people in recent days,” the attack on Iran should be a warning to despotic regimes.

“Tyrants and terrorists everywhere should take note: the world is watching. History is watching,” Mace wrote on X.

Some Republicans said they were opposed to launching a war against Iran on constitutional grounds.

Paul said he opposed another “Presidential war” and quoted John Quincy Adams, saying America “goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said “This is not ‘America First,'” and said he would work with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to force a vote in Congress over going to war with Iran.

“The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war,” Massie posted on X.

Asked if he supported the strikes, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, replied: “No. War requires Congressional authorization.”

And not all Democrats were opposed. Sen. John Fetterman, D.-Pa., said he believed Trump was making the right move.

“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel,” Fetterman wrote in an X post.

Other Democrats demanded an explanation for the strikes, like Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a Marine Corps veteran, who lamented the action.

“I lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war. Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn’t been explained or justified to the American people,” he wrote on X.

Others called for a full briefing and a vote on a proposed war powers resolution that would limit Trump’s power.

“This is a serious moment that demands full transparency and congressional oversight,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., wrote on X.