Full House and Senate to be briefed on Iran strikes – US politics live | US news
Congress to be briefed on Iran attacks before vote on president’s war powers
Hello and welcome to the live blog of US politics.
While all members of Congress in both houses will be briefed on the Iran attacks today, the Trump administration has presented a new, changing justification for its war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and general Dan Caine will brief the full membership of the House and Senate on Tuesday, including a possible vote on parallel war powers measures.
This comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the White House believes Israel is determined to act on its own, leaving the president with a “very difficult decision.”
The Republican was speaking after the first classified briefing for congressional leaders since the start of the conflict, a joint US-Israeli military operation that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The attacks quickly escalated into a broader conflict in the Middle East, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including at least six U.S. military personnel.
Johnson said the attack on Iran was a “defensive operation” because Israel was prepared to act against Iran “with or without American support.”
“The commander-in-chief said this would be a short-term operation,” Johnson said. “We certainly hope that’s true.”
Politico reported that the Senate could vote Tuesday on senators Tim Kaine and Rand Paul’s measure to limit Trump’s attacks, followed by a separate House vote on Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna’s resolution.
Democrats’ strategy of pushing for votes on war powers resolutions has been cited as a way for Congress to roll back its constitutional authority to declare war, but so far they have all failed.
In other developments:
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In his first conference since the joint US-Israeli operation against Iran, Donald Trump laid out his administration’s forward-looking goals. This includes destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, destroying its navy, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and ensuring that the country “cannot continue to arm, finance, and direct terrorist armies outside its borders.”
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At the Pentagon’s heated press conference, Pete Hegseth initially said US troops would not be in Iran but later said he would not go into details. “We’re not going to get into the implementation of what we will or won’t do,” he said. “This is not Iraq. This is not forever… Our generation knows better, and this president knows better.”
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US Central Command (Centcom) said six soldiers were killed in the operationIn the US-Israel war against Iran, 18 people were seriously injured.
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The US state department is urging Americans to “immediately leave” more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries following US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Hundreds of thousands of passengers are currently stranded in Gulf countries as airspace over some of the world’s busiest airports, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, were closed over the weekend.
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Kuwaiti air defense mistakenly shot down three US F-15 fighter jets flying in Iran-related operationsUS Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement on Monday. All six crew members were safely evacuated, recovered safely and are in stable condition.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Fox News. He said Iran’s “ballistic missile program and atomic bomb program” would have “become immune within months” if the United States and Israel had not struck the country this weekend.
important events
North Carolina kicks off some of the first midterm primaries for key Senate and House races
George Chidi
The key matchup for the open U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina will begin to come into focus Tuesday, with a prominent former Democratic governor and an untested Republican backed by Donald Trump leading the field.
In the Democratic primary, two-term former governor Roy Cooper leads in the latest poll of other candidates who have never held elected office. Cooper is viewed among Democrats in North Carolina as their best chance to flip the Republican-controlled seat; that seat is currently held by retired U.S. senator Thom Tillis; This is a conservative figure who has taken a harsh stance against the Trump administration for its stance on health, defense and the Epstein file revelations.
For Republicans, former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley leads the way. votingHe is in single digits with his closest rival, representative Don Brown.
Polling was relatively thin in both primaries and may have masked the softness of conservative support for Whatley. Nearly half of Republican voters were undecided as they headed to voting booths Tuesday.
Whatley had Trump’s support, but that didn’t stop the grumblings on the right.
“The President made a terrible mistake in forcing Whatley on us,” Brant Clifton said. Daily HaymakerA conservative news site in North Carolina. Clifton said Whatley has been closely linked to Tillis over the years, which has tarnished him among voters where Tillis has become unpopular.
“Trump spends a lot of time talking about how awful Tillis is and expressing his anger at Tillis, but here he is. He’s trying to force the RNC Mike Whatley down our throats, but Tom Tillis and his wife are responsible for elevating Whatley from obscurity to chairman of the state Republican party.”
Noem to face questions on immigration enforcement and DHS shutdown
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee later today. His department’s funding is still stalled due to Democratic objections to his aggressive tactics.
This will be Noem’s first appearance before the committee since two people were killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis in January.
Noem, who was appointed by Trump last year, will also be able to take questions on other issues, including possible threats to the United States following U.S. attacks on Iran and reports of irregularities in her department.
The former South Dakota governor oversaw Trump’s immigration agenda, including the deployment of thousands of masked federal agents to U.S. cities; these agents scoured neighborhoods looking for possible immigration criminals and clashed with residents.
Noem is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Trump hosts German Merz in talks marred by Middle East war
President Trump hosts German leader Friedrich Merz later today for his first visit with a foreign leader since joining Israel’s attacks on Iran.
The long-planned White House meeting was supposed to focus on the war in Ukraine and difficult EU-US trade relations as part of a broader effort to salvage frayed transatlantic ties.
However, according to AFP, Trump’s signal that air strikes against Iran could continue for weeks turned the global agenda upside down, with Tehran retaliating against US bases and allies in the region.
Merz, who has been a harsh critic of the Islamic republic’s leadership, said Berlin shared the Iranian people’s “relief” that “the mullah regime is over.”
But he refused to “lecture” the United States and Israel on the legality of attacks on Iran aimed at ending Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Congress to be briefed on Iran attacks before vote on president’s war powers
Hello and welcome to the live blog of US politics.
While all members of Congress in both houses will be briefed on the Iran attacks today, the Trump administration has presented a new, changing justification for its war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and general Dan Caine will brief the full membership of the House and Senate on Tuesday, including a possible vote on parallel war powers measures.
That statement came after House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the White House believes Israel is determined to act on its own, leaving the president facing a “very difficult decision.”
The Republican was speaking after the first classified briefing for congressional leaders since the start of the conflict, a joint US-Israeli military operation that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The attacks quickly escalated into a broader conflict in the Middle East, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including at least six U.S. military personnel.
Johnson said the attack on Iran was a “defensive operation” because Israel was prepared to act against Iran “with or without American support.”
“The commander-in-chief said this would be a short-term operation,” Johnson said. “We certainly hope that’s true.”
Politico reported that the Senate could vote Tuesday on senators Tim Kaine and Rand Paul’s measure to limit Trump’s attacks, followed by a separate House vote on Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna’s resolution.
Democrats’ strategy of pushing for votes on war powers resolutions has been cited as a way for Congress to roll back its constitutional authority to declare war, but so far they have all failed.
In other developments:
-
In his first conference since the joint US-Israeli operation against Iran, Donald Trump laid out his administration’s forward-looking goals. This includes destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, destroying its navy, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and ensuring that the country “cannot continue to arm, finance, and direct terrorist armies outside its borders.”
-
At the Pentagon’s heated press conference, Pete Hegseth initially said US troops would not be in Iran but later said he would not go into details. “We’re not going to get into the practice of what we will or won’t do,” he said. “This is not Iraq. This is not forever… Our generation knows better, and this president knows better.”
-
US Central Command (Centcom) said six soldiers were killed in the operationIn the US-Israel war against Iran, 18 people were seriously injured.
-
The US state department is urging Americans to “immediately leave” more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries following US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Hundreds of thousands of passengers are currently stranded in Gulf countries as airspace over some of the world’s busiest airports, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, were closed over the weekend.
-
Kuwaiti air defense mistakenly shot down three US F-15 fighter jets flying in Iran-related operationsUS Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement on Monday. All six crew members were safely evacuated, recovered safely and are in stable condition.
-
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Fox News. He said Iran’s “ballistic missile program and atomic bomb program” would have “become immune within months” if the United States and Israel had not struck the country this weekend.
