Almost five months into President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, the Trump administration still has not asked for authorization from Congress to continue hostilities. They, however, did present Congress with a supplemental request — which includes, among other things, an ask for $67.1 billion for the Department of Defense to fund Trump’s war.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday afternoon on the details of the Pentagon’s request. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) used a significant portion of her time asking Hegseth if the administration plans to use an Iran war supplemental approved by Congress as a substitute for congressional authorization to continue the war.
In 1999 “the Clinton Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion holding that the supplemental appropriation itself — passed without any authorizing language — satisfied the War Powers Resolution requirement. So is the department looking to that or intending to rely on that same reasoning that funding alone can substitute for explicit congressional authorization?” Murkowski asked.
Murkowski — who on several occasions voted with Senate Democrats in favor of their war powers resolutions, condemning Trump’s refusal to seek congressional authorization — is referring to a theory TPM covered extensively at the start of the war.
Congress approving a supplemental with money for the Iran war could allow the Trump administration to later argue that lawmakers retroactively authorized the war, legal experts told TPM in March.
As Murkowski outlined during her time for questioning, President Bill Clinton made a similar argument about the war in Kosovo, which began absent congressional authorization. The Clinton White House argued that funding Congress passed for that conflict doubled as authorization.
Hegseth largely dodged the Alaska senator’s question on Tuesday, saying he would have to “defer to our legal department” on the issue.
“I would have to defer to our legal department and we’ll get back to you with our views on that,” Hegseth said. “But as of right now, we think standalone Article Two authorities exist for us to conduct this operation on behalf of the defense of the American people. That the president has those authorities, and seeking this funding is important in pursuit of that and our $1.5 trillion budget. But I wouldn’t connect the two without consulting with our legal folks first.”
