Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) warned Monday that President Donald Trump’s decision to launch military strikes against Iran risks dragging the United States into another open-ended war in the Middle East—this time without constitutional authorization.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Durbin acknowledged that there has long been bipartisan agreement on key concerns surrounding Iran: its pursuit of nuclear weapons, its sponsorship of terrorist proxies, and its destabilizing role in the region. But he drew a sharp distinction between confronting those threats and initiating a broader war.
“There is no consensus in America for another interminable war in the Middle East,” Durbin said, pointing to the early toll of the conflict. Four U.S. service members have already been killed, others seriously wounded, and violence has spread across multiple countries in the region.
Durbin described the president’s actions as impulsive and deeply troubling, particularly because they were taken without congressional approval. He referenced the Constitution, citing Article I, Section 8, which vests the power to declare war in Congress.
To underscore the point, Durbin recalled debates at the Constitutional Convention, noting that even George Washington—the first president of the United States—supported a framework that denied the president unilateral authority to take the nation to war. The Founding Fathers, Durbin argued, intentionally placed that responsibility in the hands of the people’s representatives.
Durbin: ‘One Should Never Send Our Sons And Daughters Into War Without The Consent Of The People’
Durbin also mentioned the passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973 over President Richard Nixon’s veto amid the turmoil of the Vietnam War. Durbin described it as a defining institutional moment when lawmakers of both parties asserted constitutional limits on executive war-making power.
While acknowledging that critics argue the War Powers Act is imperfect, Durbin said he supports it and believes it can be strengthened. Under the law, he emphasized, the president may initiate military action only in response to an imminent threat or with express authorization from Congress. In his view, neither condition applies to the current situation with Iran.
Durbin was careful to reiterate that the Iranian regime’s actions—including support for terrorism and repression of its own citizens—are deeply troubling. But those realities, he said, do not justify bypassing constitutional safeguards.
He endorsed Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA)’s War Powers Resolution, which would require congressional approval for any continued hostilities with Iran. For Durbin, the issue transcends party affiliation.
Durbin stated a president “should never send our sons and daughters into war without the consent of the people.” Throughout his career, Durbin said, he has made that case regardless of who occupies the Oval Office—and he insisted that Congress must once again stand as a coequal branch of government in matters of war and peace.
