Call for Trump to be impeached over Iran strikes

Democrats are up in arms, but Donald Trump also faces some opposition from his own Republican allies over his strikes against Iran.

There are calls for US President Donald Trump to be impeached over his “unconsitutional” move to bomb top nuclear facilities in Iran.

Democrats have responded with uproar to the US attacks, but Mr Trump also faces criticism from within his own party, including prominent Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has spoken against the strikes.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, was among the US politicians to respond to Mr Trump’s announcement of “successful” attacks on Iran.

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorisation is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.

“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

Several politicians of both parties responded angrily to news of the US strikes on Iran. Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP

Earlier in the day on Sunday, Mr Trump announced that he had ordered strikes to target Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear sites.

Mr Trump said American planes successfully departed Iranian airspace and were “safely on their way home”.

Mr Trump endured bipartisan backlash over the strikes, but so far, only Democrats have clamoured for impeachment despite some of them acknowledging that they lack the votes.

Republican Thomas Massie, who hasn’t been shy about splitting with Mr Trump in the past, simply declared: “This is not Constitutional.”

Top Intel Committee Democrat Jim Himes similarly accused Mr Trump of exceeding his presidential authorities with the strikes and griped that he was not given advance notice of the attacks.

US President Donald Trump speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington, following the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. Picture: Carlos Barria/Pool via AP

“According to the Constitution, we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop,” Mr Himes said on X.

Mr Himes is a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, a group of eight politicians, including the majority and minority parties’ leaders and top members of the intelligence committees in both chambers of Congress.

However, despite the constitutional concerns critics have raised, legal scholar Jonathan Turley stressed that other presidents have engaged in similar strikes abroad.

“These members would have to argue that it is a high crime and misdemeanour under Section 4 of Article Two of the United States Constitution,” Mr Turley wrote on X, referring to congressional critics of Mr Trump.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, simply declared: ‘This is not Constitutional’ in response to the strikes. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via AFP

“However, prior presidents have used the same authority in launching major attacks on foreign nations.”

Mr Turley pointed to military force that had similarly been used by former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and others on places like Libya, Khartoum, Sudan and Afghanistan.

But the legal scholar also warned that the situation is at risk of escalating dramatically.

“Since Iran has threatened to attack the United States in response to such an operation, it could trigger a series of cascading decisions. For example, under Article Five of the NATO treaty, an attack on one member is an attack on all,” he noted.

Firebrand Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Trump ally who opposed the strikes, called for peace in response.

“Let us join together and pray for the safety of our US troops and Americans in the Middle East,” she wrote.

“Let us pray that we are not attacked by terrorists on our homeland after our border was open for the past four years and over two million gotaways came in.”

Hours before the attack, Ms Greene complained that “Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war.”

“There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first,” she said.

“Israel is a nuclear armed nation. This is not our fight.”

Representative Sean Casten, a Democrat from Illinois, also called it an “unambiguous impeachable offence.”

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders admonished Mr Trump’s strikes as “grossly unconstitutional”.

“The only entity that can take this country to war is the US Congress. The president does not have the right,” he said during a rally in Oklahoma.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Call for Trump to be impeached over Iran strikes