Despite the fact Iran had killed a U.S. contractor in Iraq, staged an assault on the U.S. Embassy there, and launched a missile attack on U.S. forces, House Democrats were so overcome with their hatred for President Trump that they voted Thursday to restrict his powers to react to hostilities from the regime. Of course, that meant the liberal media had something else to rally behind seeing as their buddies in Iran had just killed nearly 176 innocent people by blowing a passenger jet out the sky.
“Tonight, Congress is taking its first steps to limit President Trump's war powers and force him it come to Congress before he takes any future military action against Iran,” CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell enthusiastically announced at the top of the segment.
The report was handed off to chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes, who touted how Democrats weren’t buying how terrorist Qasem Soleimani was a threat to Americans in the region:
CORDES: He argued some of the intelligence can't be shared.
TRUMP: It's okay if the military wants to give it, but they didn't want to give it.
CORDES: But Democrats are still skeptical, and tonight, they fired a warning shot at Mr. Trump.
(…)
CORDES: ...Passing a resolution aimed at limiting his ability to wage war against Iran.
There was a similar report on ABC’s World News Tonight from chief White House correspondent and White House Correspondents Association president Jon Karl. “The House today approved a resolution requiring the President to get congressional approval for any future military action against Iran that lasts longer than 30 days,” he noted in a report about pressure being put on Trump to make the evidence public.
He then highlighted a soundbite of him questioning President Trump about seeking congressional approval to deal with Iranian threats:
KARL: Would you go to congress to take further military action against Iran? Would you seek congressional approval?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP It would all depend on the circumstance. I don't have to and you shouldn't have to be able because you have to make split-second decisions sometimes. Sometimes you have to move very, very quickly, Jon.
Meanwhile, on NBC Nightly News, Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt deflated the media’s narrative about the vote. “Tonight, House Democrats, in a largely symbolic resolution, demanding the President get approval from Congress before taking military action with Iran,” she reported, after anchor Lester Holt touted the vote.
Later on, though, Hunt strangely noted: “While the Constitution says Congress has sole power to declare war, modern presidents have used executive authority to launch conflicts around the world and Congress hasn't been able to stop them.” The note was odd because it wasn’t just some made-up authority those presidents were using. Since 9/11, Congress had routinely re-upped the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which granted presidents extra war powers and stripped Congress of theirs.
Although, there was an ongoing debate about the appropriateness of what has turned into a sort of rubber stamp on the act.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
January 9, 2020
6:37:02 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Tonight, Congress is taking its first steps to limit President Trump's war powers and force him it come to Congress before he takes any future military action against Iran. The President is also making a new claim about why he ordered that operation that killed Iran's top general. Nancy Cordes reports tonight from Capitol Hill.
[Cuts to video}
NANCY CORDES: The President offered a new rationale today for the killing of General Soleimani.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy.
CORDES: A senior Defense official said the Pentagon was concerned about a plot against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, but that's not what top officials told lawmakers yesterday in a briefing that infuriated Democrats...
(…)
CORDES: ...and a pair of Republicans.
(…)
CORDES: He argued some of the intelligence can't be shared.
TRUMP: It's okay if the military wants to give it, but they didn't want to give it.
CORDES: But Democrats are still skeptical, and tonight, they fired a warning shot at Mr. Trump.
(…)
CORDES: ...Passing a resolution aimed at limiting his ability to wage war against Iran.
(…)
ABC’s World News Tonight
January 9, 2020
6:37:15 p.m. Eastern(…)
JON KARL: The House today approved a resolution requiring the President to get congressional approval for any future military action against Iran that lasts longer than 30 days.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Fight any foe, pay any price, to keep the American people safe. But to not be frivolous and cavalier about how we decide to show strength.
KARL: Would you go to congress to take further military action against Iran? Would you seek congressional approval?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP It would all depend on the circumstance. I don't have to and you shouldn't have to be able because you have to make split-second decisions sometimes. Sometimes you have to move very, very quickly, Jon.
(…)
