Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar push Democrats left on Iran war powers
The Congressional Progressive Caucus has been instrumental in setting the Democratic agenda to push back against President Donald Trump’s Iran policy.
Shortly after the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced a war powers resolution to constrain President Donald Trump from launching offensive military action against Iran.
Kaine’s effort mirrored last year’s Yemen war powers resolution, introduced by presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the lone senator in the Congressional Progressive Caucus who hopes to oust Trump from the White House this year.
Several days later, Sanders’ fellow caucus members, Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., announced that they would introduce the Kaine resolution in the House. Mere hours after that, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., committed to holding an Iran war powers vote in the House.
But Pelosi made no mention of Lee and Omar and instead designated Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a moderate who previously worked for the CIA and Defense Department analyzing Shiite militias, to introduce the bill.
