GOP Rep. Tom Barrett (Mich.) introduced a bill on Thursday that would require President Trump to wind down the Iran war by the end of July. It would also impose limits on the scope of the ongoing U.S. military campaign.
Barrett, a 22-year Army veteran who deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) with the House on recess until May 11.
Under Barrett’s AUMF, the U.S. military can take action to “successfully demolish, degrade, or defeat” Iran’s nuclear weapons program, address “imminent threats” to U.S. forces or facilities, enforce a blockade of Iranian ports — which the U.S. Navy is already imposing — and ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for American and allied ships, along with any other vessels that Trump “determines appropriate.”
The Michigan Republican’s resolution bars U.S. forces from conducting “sustained” ground combat operations in Iran; occupying, seizing or holding Iranian territory; and engaging in “nation-building” or similar measures in the Middle Eastern country.
“Two things have been clear from the very beginning: Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, and the United States of America cannot be dragged into another endless war,” Barrett said Thursday in a release. “The Commander in Chief has the sole authority to lead our troops in wartime, but I’ve lost too many friends on the battlefield to allow that to happen without Congress exercising its constitutional role to clearly define the mission with safeguards and a deadline.”
“If we don’t learn from our foreign policy failures of the past, we are bound to repeat them,” he added.
Barrett succeeded Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) in representing the Wolverine State’s 7th Congressional District via a narrow victory over Democrat Curtis Hertel in 2024. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Barrett’s reelection bid as a “Toss Up” race, making it one of just 16 with that distinction.
The move is remarkable, since virtually all Republicans have stood behind Trump throughout the Iran war, arguing that the conflict was justified, in the name of national security, and that the president had the power to initiate it without congressional approval.
But it also demonstrates that patience on Capitol Hill is wearing thin, even among Trump’s GOP allies, in the face of a military stalemate that’s led to rising gas prices and heightened fears of another long-drawn conflict in the Middle East — the very thing that Trump had campaigned against.
Some have made the legal case that Trump’s unilateral authority to use military force extended for only 60 days, as dictated by the 1973 War Powers Act, and that the president would have to win Congress’s consent to continue the operations afterward.
Strategies differ, however, over how to respond to that deadline.
Some Republicans, like Barrett, are pushing an AUMF, suggesting they support the war effort but simply want Congress to have a voice in directing it. In the Senate, Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is drafting a similar resolution.
Others, like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), are supporting war powers resolutions that would force Trump to terminate all military operations until an AUMF is adopted.
Democrats, who have accused Trump of launching a war without just cause, have supported the war powers resolutions to end the conflict. But they appear much less likely to back an AUMF enabling further operations, since they say there’s no evidence Iran posed an immediate threat to American security.
Last Friday, Trump informed Congress that the 60-day deadline invoked by the War Powers Act did not apply, as the U.S. and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on April 7. But the two armed forces exchanged fire this week, as the Navy embarked on a since-abandoned mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Under Barrett’s bill, the president would have to submit a report to Congress describing military operations pursuant to the AUMF or those “conducted in reliance” on other authorities, an explanation of the legal authority for each action and operation, and assessment of the civilian and military casualties.
From Feb. 28 through when the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, U.S. and Israeli strikes resulted in the deaths of thousands of Iranian civilians. Seven American service members, meanwhile, were killed by Iranian attacks, and six service members died in mid-March when a refueling plane crashed in Iraq.
The AUMF would expire on July 30, with a 30-day extension available “only as necessary.”
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