Trump Action In Iran Succeeds

Opponents of Trump claim his action in Iran violates the Constitution without Congressional approval.

It appears the strike on Iran was entirely successful.  The plan and coordination with Israel could not have been achieved in a timely and undisclosed manner with the glacial process of Congress.  The timing was now.

A Cease Fire between Iran and Israel is imminent.  Iran’s nuclear threat is gone for now.

Many precedents exist for the President’s use of military action without prior approval of Congress.

Here is a list since 1980:

Year	President	Military Action	Location	Justification
1981	Reagan	Naval skirmish with Libya	Gulf of Sidra	Defense of U.S. forces
1983	Reagan	Invasion of Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury)	Grenada	Protection of U.S. citizens, regional stability
1986	Reagan	Bombing of Libya (Operation El Dorado Canyon)	Libya	Retaliation for Berlin disco bombing
1989	G.H.W. Bush	Invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause)	Panama	Arrest of Manuel Noriega, protection of U.S. citizens
1993	Clinton	Missile strikes on Iraq	Iraq	Enforcement of no-fly zones, response to assassination plot
1994	Clinton	Troop deployment to Haiti (Operation Uphold Democracy)	Haiti	Restore elected government
1995	Clinton	Air strikes in Bosnia	Bosnia	NATO mission; no specific Congressional approval
1998	Clinton	Missile strikes (Operation Desert Fox)	Iraq	Punish WMD violations
1999	Clinton	NATO-led bombing of Yugoslavia (Kosovo War)	Serbia/Kosovo	Humanitarian intervention; no Congressional approval
2001	Bush (W.)	Initial strikes in Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Covered by AUMF post-9/11, but initial action began before full Congressional review
2011	Obama	Air strikes and intervention in Libya (Operation Odyssey Dawn)	Libya	Humanitarian intervention; no Congressional authorization
2014	Obama	Air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq	Syria, Iraq	Initially no new authorization; later covered under 2001 AUMF against Al-Qaeda
2017	Trump	Missile strike on Syria (after chemical weapons use)	Syria	Retaliation; no Congressional authorization
2018	Trump	Joint air strikes with UK/France on Syria	Syria	Retaliation for chemical attacks
2020	Trump	Drone strike killing Qassem Soleimani	Iraq	Self-defense; no prior approval
2021	Biden	Air strikes on militia groups	Syria, Iraq	Deterrence/self-defense of U.S. personnel
2023–2024	Biden	Repeated strikes in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen	Middle East	Defense of U.S. troops, response to attacks by Iran-linked groups

Trump’s action in Iran is totally consistent with that of previous Presidents under the War Powers Act.

The outcome is a significant change in the dynamics for peace in the Middle East.

David Hollaender                                                    June 23,2025

Cogport.com