Ohio Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman explains his vote against Iran war-powers resolution

By Marty Schladen
Ohio Capital Journal
 
Ohio Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman of Cincinnati was one of just a handful of Democrats to vote against a war-powers resolution on Iran. He explained his vote by saying he supported limited objectives in the attack on Iran and that he plans to introduce a resolution of his own later this month.

As President Donald Trump’s war reaches the end of its second week, the administration still hasn’t given consistent explanations of why it was necessary now or what the goal is.

Meanwhile, Trump is facing growing pressure from spiking energy costs, stranded Americans, and huge military expenses to bring the venture to a rapid close.

According to the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. That hasn’t happened since World War II. Even so, the nation has been involved in more than a dozen armed conflicts since.

Even without a formal declaration, earlier presidents went to great lengths to make their case to the public and to Congress, in some instances taking votes to show congressional support.

But in the case of the current conflict, Trump did little to prepare the public that the United States and Israel were about to attack Iran and some of the few members of Congress he warned were the so-called Gang of Eight — a bipartisan group of leaders.

Even before aftershocks mounted, the war so far has been historically unpopular, and Democrats scheduled war-powers votes last week in both houses of Congress.

Both failed along partisan lines, but in a few cases, members broke ranks.

In Ohio, U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, a West Point-educated Republican, voted for the resolution, which would have required Trump to get congressional approval to continue the war.

He said that regardless of who the president is, that person isn’t “empowered to do whatever he wants…”

Landsman, whose district is also in the Cincinnati area, is one of just four Democrats who voted against the war powers measure.

It failed 212-219, so if they had all voted for it and all other things stayed the same, it would have passed by a single vote.

As a practical matter, the loss didn’t mean much because the measure also failed in the U.S. Senate. 

But the November midterm elections are likely to be a referendum on Trump’s performance, and the Cook Political Report rates Landsman’s race a tossup. 

Landsman was asked whether his vote meant that he thought Trump should be allowed to wage war without congressional oversight. 

“Of course not,” he said in an email. “Congress declares war, and Congress must fund it. These are targeted strikes on core military assets — missiles, rockets, drones, ships. I support targeted strikes to destroy Iran’s missiles and bombs to stop the regime from taking more lives.”

He added, “My War Powers Resolution will be ready for a vote on March 24, which will have given the Administration 30 days to finish the operation, from the day it started, and no boots on the ground. If they need more time, they will also need a vote from Congress.”

Two of the other three Democrats who voted against the earlier war-powers resolution are co-sponsors of Landsman’s bill.

The congressman said the administration didn’t inform him before it attacked Iran, a country of 92 million people.

He was asked if he thought Congress as a whole had been adequately briefed.

“Yes and no,” he said. “They briefed a bipartisan group in advance of the strikes. That is good. They also did a classified briefing with every member, which is also good. That said, I don’t think the President has done a good job explaining the operation to Congress or the American people. Fortunately, General (Dan) Cain, the head of military operations, has been very effective in communicating the plan.”

According Trump, the goal of the attacks has variously been making the Iranian establishment collapse so dissidents can take over, getting the army to surrender and diplomats to switch sides, destroying Iran’s military capabilities, hand-picking a new leader, and “unconditional surrender.”

Meanwhile, he and his aides have at different times said Iran had to be attacked now, claiming it was close to getting a nuclear weapon, had missiles that could reach the United States, and that Israel was going to attack so the United States joined in. 

Landsman was asked, amid the confusion, what he thought were the war’s strategic goals and what the urgency was for starting it now. 

“The operation is targeted strikes on the regime’s missiles, rockets, launchers, drones, and ships. All military targets. When they have finished these targets, the operation is done,” he said.

“The Iranian regime was building a weapons shield around their nuclear facilities, which would have made it very difficult — if not impossible — to stop them from enriching enough uranium to kill hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, including Americans.” 

Landsman added, “I support these targeted strikes and believe the operation should take weeks — no more. That said, my War Powers Resolution would require a vote of Congress if it takes longer or the operation is expanded in any way.” 
 
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