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Trump’s tough talk on Iran prompts Senate vote on war powers

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., holds a news conference ahead of the Fourth of July break, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will "reluctantly" pass the Senate version of a border funding package even though it won't include the increased migrant protections Democrats had wanted. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., holds a news conference ahead of the Fourth of July break, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will "reluctantly" pass the Senate version of a border funding package even though it won't include the increased migrant protections Democrats had wanted. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., holds a news conference ahead of the Fourth of July break, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will "reluctantly" pass the Senate version of a border funding package even though it won't include the increased migrant protections Democrats had wanted. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Associated Press 5 min read

photo U.S. President Donald Trump, center, arrives at the Osaka International Airport to attend the G-20 Summit Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Osaka, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

WASHINGTON – Political unease over the White House’s tough talk against Iran is reviving questions about President Donald Trump’s ability to order military strikes without approval from Congress.

The Senate is heading toward a vote Friday on an amendment to a sweeping Defense bill that would require congressional support before Trump acts. It’s not expected to pass. But lawmakers say Trump cannot continue relying on the nearly two-decade old war authorizations Congress approved in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Democratic Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, an author of the measure, said he’s not alone in raising concern about Trump’s “ping-pong diplomacy” and “go-it-alone posture.”

“This reckless diplomacy is dangerously reminiscent of the run up to the war with Iraq,” he said on the Senate floor Thursday.

The effort in the Senate signals discomfort with Trump’s approach to foreign policy. Most Democrats and a few Republicans support Udall’s amendment, but it faces steep resistance from the White House and the Pentagon, which wrote a letter opposing it.