By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) – Six Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Monday said they are embarking on an intensified campaign for public hearings on the Iran war, with top Trump administration officials testifying under oath and to take steps to interrupt regular Senate business if Republicans resist.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey told reporters that the senior Democrats on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees have made the requests to Republican chairmen James Risch and Roger Wicker, respectively.
The senators said their goal is to bring a quick end to the Iran war and protect American troops, who already have suffered some casualties.
Aides to the committees did not immediately comment.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said such hearings should be held next week, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State and Acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio testifying.
Administration officials have held closed-door, classified briefings for Congress. Democrats argue that the American public needs to hear from them on the possible duration of the war, Trump’s specific goals and related matters.
Republicans currently hold a narrow, 53-47 Senate majority, which gives them the power to control what legislation comes to the floor for debate.
But Booker noted that individual senators have “a tremendous amount of power to disrupt the normal functioning of the Senate, as well as certain privileges that we can exercise.”
He said he would not detail the steps this group of senators is willing to take.
Calling the Iran war “the biggest military engagement since the war in Afghanistan,” Booker said, “We are not going to let the Senate continue as business as usual.”
Both the House of Representatives, which also is run by Republicans, and the Senate have rejected Democrats’ calls for debate and votes on the War Powers Act to authorize U.S. military attacks on Iran.
Trump has provided a series of rationales, often changing, for unilaterally launching the war.
The results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed deep public discontent over the war.
Sixty percent of Americans expect the U.S. military engagement to continue “for an extended period of time,” causing gasoline prices to rise and only 29% of adults approve of the attacks, the poll found.
While Republicans mainly have stood by as President Donald Trump has taken actions that have bypassed Congress’ powers to appropriate funding and to levy tariffs, Democrats have had some successes in getting the Senate to stand up to Trump on those issues.
Joining Booker and Murphy in this effort are Senators Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq war veteran, Adam Schiff of California, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Tim Kaine of Virginia.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Michael Perry)
Comments