“Our commander-in-chief has made a deliberate — and correct — decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in a statement. “We now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies and stability for the Middle East.”
The military assault — dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer — included bunker-busting bombs and Tomahawk missiles launched from multiple American assets, including B-2 bombers flying from American soil and submarines operating in the region.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said Trump “made the correct decision to strike Iran’s nuclear sites” and warned Iranian leadership that “it would be a grave mistake to attempt any retaliation against our forces or homeland.”
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But Rogers’ Democratic counterpart on the committee, ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., noted that Trump did not seek authorization from Congress ahead of the military action or “demonstrate that Iran posed an immediate threat” to the United States.
“Engaging in direct conflict places U.S. service members and military sites in the Middle East squarely in the crosshairs of Iran and its many proxies,” Smith said in a statement. “[The] actions could further escalate tensions, destabilize the region, and drag the United States into an avoidable war.”
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., called the decision “a massive gamble by President Trump, and nobody knows yet whether it will pay off.”
He also expressed concerns about potential retaliation against U.S. military forces, particularly the roughly 40,000 personnel stationed in the Middle East.
“We must be prepared for retaliation — both in the short and long-term, on the battlefield and asymmetrically,” Reed said.
But reaction to the military assault also cut across party lines.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement calling the bombings “critical and decisive action to protect America, freedom and democracy at home and around the world.”
Typically vocal Trump supporters Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kent., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., both took to social media to criticize the decision to attack Iran.
“This is not Constitutional,” Massie wrote.
In recent days, a coalition of Democratic critics and Republican non-interventionists have pushed to revisit presidential war powers, as a potential check on Trump’s ability to engage in military action overseas.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., one of the lead voices in that effort, said in coming days he will “push for all senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”
But finding enough votes to constrain Trump’s military authorities is unlikely in the Republican controlled House and Senate.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that leaders from key congressional committees received notice of the strikes Saturday night, after the planes were safely out of Iranian airspace. Lawmakers said they will push for more information on the planning and execution of the strikes starting Monday, when they return from a long holiday weekend.
Officials from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement about the air strikes that their forces will consider “options that go beyond the delusional calculations of the aggressor coalition” in their response to the American military attack.
Reporter Noah Robertson contributed to this story.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
