WASHINGTON - Minnesota’s six Democrats sharply condemned President Donald Trump’s surprise attacks on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, arguing that he should have received congressional authorization before they were carried out.
Meanwhile, just two of the state’s four Republicans in Congress spoke out about the attacks, both applauding Trump actions.
Minnesota’s senior Sen. Amy Klobuchar said that though she thinks Iran should not have nuclear weapons, his strikes were not the solution to stop them.
“The President’s order for direct strikes, and his threats of a much wider U.S. military campaign against Iran well beyond its nuclear sites, could lead our country into a dangerous and open-ended war,” Klobuchar said on X. “He must not, and under our Constitution cannot, take these actions without congressional authorization and a full debate in Congress over the goals, risks, and implications.”
Democrats maintain that Trump went against the Constitution — which gives Congress the ability to authorize war — by making a unilateral decision to carry out the attacks.
Operation Midnight Hammer was a precision strike that hit three key nuclear sites across Iran. Trump has said the goal of the mission was to destroy the country’s nuclear enrichment capacity and to stop “the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.”
Iran responded Monday by launching a limited missile attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
Rep. Betty McCollum, who serves as the ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee, said she thinks Trump’s strikes were “unconstitutional” because Iran did not immediately pose a direct risk to the country.
