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Good afternoon, and welcome back to Press Pass. I don’t want to toot our own horn too loudly, but listen: Something The Bulwark does exceptionally well is putting our talent and expertise to work where it’s most useful. Our team isn’t just a bunch of professional yappers like you sometimes see on cable news. It’s a group of smart voices able to offer expert commentary on beats we know as well as anybody. The value of this operation becomes obvious at times like this, when the president has unilaterally launched a major military operation. If you want to stay well informed about that while also gaining access to everything we do at The Bulwark, including tonight’s 9 p.m. EST livestream on the Texas primary results, make sure to upgrade your membership to Bulwark+. We’d love to have you along.
Today’s edition introduces you to two of the lawmakers who have been in the Capitol since the 2003 invasion of Iraq—one who supported the war and one who opposed it. I had a simple question for each of them about how Trump’s military action against Iran compares so far with that earlier conflict. I think you’ll find their answers to be clarifying when it comes to the different ways lawmakers are thinking about presidential authority these days.
My followup question for them, as well as the general question for any other senators I bumped into on Monday, was a simple one: Are we at war? Apparently, that’s too big a thing to ask our elected officials right now. But some of the folks who talked with me were candid about their frustrations and confusion. Lastly, how does a skateboarder in the rural outskirts of Moscow get some tricks in? He rides on frozen rivers and grinds on fallen trees, blocks of ice, and rocks. It’s awesome, and I hope reading an interview with him will offer a little mental break from the news. All that and more, below.
Why Trump Iran Operation Isn’t Winning Over the Hill
Plus: Senators are confused about whether to call this a “war.”
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How are senators approaching the Trump administration’s unilateral military action in Iran? To gain some perspective, I found it useful to speak with some of the lawmakers who were around in 2003 when Capitol Hill was enveloped in debate over the Bush administration’s actions toward Iraq.
I spoke to two senators—one who supported that war and one who opposed it—about how it compares to the one they’re being asked to support now.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, was in his second term when he cast his vote against the Iraq War authorization in 2003.
“The Constitution states very clearly that the initiation of war requires the approval of the Congress and this is a war—they said it themselves,” Reed said. “We’re at war, and they haven’t even made serious attempts to brief us beforehand and to get our permission.”
Contrast Reed’s clear assessment with the murky response I received from Iraq War supporter Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) when I asked her to compare the two wars.
“That’s a very open-ended question,” she said, demurring. When I then asked if we are now at war, Collins said, “I’ve just had a classified briefing and I’m not gonna . . .” before cutting herself off to step into an elevator. It’s not clear to me whether Collins feels ambivalent about the military campaign or she just found herself at a loss for words about it.
The senior senator from Maine is up again for re-election this campaign cycle, but she has a lot less political momentum this time around. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, just 27 percent of respondents said they approve of the strikes on Iran, with most expressing concerns about Trump’s eagerness to use military force and possibility of American casualties. Contrast this with the polling leading up to the Iraq War in 2003, when a majority of Americans supported removing Saddam Hussein.
Most of the senators serving today were not around during the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but I hope they know that history. They will have to deal with significant political consequences if they repeat it.