Congress is divided largely along partisan lines as it prepares to debate and vote this week on a war powers resolution on U.S. military action in Iran. At the same time, with the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security entering its third week, some Republican lawmakers are using the turmoil surrounding President Trump’s attack on Iran to pressure Democrats to fund the agency and drop their demands for major reforms at the nation’s immigration services.
Reacting to Iran: Republican lawmakers expressed strong support for Trump’s decision to attack Iran. Speaker Mike Johnson said that “Iran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions,” while claiming that the president had “made every effort to pursue peaceful and diplomatic solutions.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune condemned Iran’s “relentless nuclear ambitions” and its support for “terror groups,” while crediting the Trump administration for its “dogged efforts” to negotiate a deal. “I commend President Trump for taking action to thwart these threats,” Thune said.
Democrats were more critical, with some questioning the legality and process surrounding the decision to go to war. “Donald Trump failed to seek congressional authorization prior to striking Iran,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer questioned the need to go to war and the way Trump is carrying it out. “The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat,” he said. “Confronting Iran’s malign regional activities, nuclear ambitions, and harsh oppression of the Iranian people demands American strength, resolve, regional coordination, and strategic clarity. Unfortunately, President Trump’s fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy.”
Other Democrats were more aggressive in their criticism. “The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The president walked away from these discussions and chose war instead.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, called for Congress to act. “This Trump–Netanyahu war is unconstitutional and violates international law,” he said on social media. “We’ve lived through the lies of Vietnam and Iraq. No more endless wars. Congress must pass a War Powers Resolution immediately.”
Republicans ramp up pressure to end DHS shutdown: Sen. James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican who sits on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Sunday that the war in the Middle East raises the stakes in the DHS shutdown, since the department includes not just ICE, the focus of Democrats’ concerns, but also other key agencies such as TSA, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service.
“Let’s get DHS funded,” Lankford said, per Politico. “We need to make sure we’re defending the homeland by also funding what’s here at home.”
Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered the same message. “Given the situation in the Middle East and the potential for Iran and its terrorist proxies to attempt some type of attack, it is imperative that @SenSchumer and @RepJeffries immediately drop all opposition to funding the Department of Homeland Security and pass the funding bill,” he wrote on social media.
A short-term fix? Some Republican lawmakers, including Thune, are discussing a plan to shift some of the tens of billions of dollars provided for border security and immigration in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” last summer to other areas managed by DHS, including TSA.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, said he would consider that option. “I’m open to the idea, but I want to see a good-faith effort by the Republicans in the Senate and the administration to deal with the ICE problem,” he said, per The Hill.
Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has proposed funding some elements of DHS, including TSA, while leaving ICE and border patrol unfunded as lawmakers debate reforms. “What would probably be the best is to find some way to separate everything else out of Homeland. You have Coast Guard, you have TSA, you have FEMA,” she said. “TSA is not part of this.”
Still, not all Democrats are accepting that the attack on Iran means they have to ease their demands for reforms at ICE. Chris Murphy, the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said Sunday that he is focused on getting ICE to stop “terrorizing” American communities. “I don’t have any obligation to fund the Department of Homeland Security that is violating the law every day, just like I don’t have any obligation to support this war that is illegal, as well,” Murphy said.
What’s next: Congress is expected to debate a war powers resolution later this week, but it’s not likely to have enough votes to pass. Speaker Johnson said Monday that he expects the resolution to fail, and that the president doesn’t need one, since he ordered an “operation that was limited in scope, limited in its objective, and absolutely necessary for our defense.”