ICYMI Video: Blumenthal Slams Trump's Unauthorized Military Action in Iran

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke yesterday on the Senate Floor to condemn President Trump's unauthorized military action in Iran. Blumenthal's remarks come as the Senate prepares to vote on legislation to reclaim its authority under the War Powers Act.

"We have said countless times that war must be a last resort, never a first choice. And yet, the administration seems to be engaging in a war of choice that is needless and reckless, conducted chaotically, and most alarmingly, spreading and widening throughout the region. It is no longer a conflict involving only the United States and Iran or the United States and Israel with Iran. It is now a regional conflagration," said Blumenthal.

"The simple fact is Donald Trump is workshopping a war. He's making it up as he goes along in real time. He is inventing and then discarding and then reviving objectives, as though he were a child playing with a puzzle, trying to fit the pieces into a coherent hole," Blumenthal continued.

"He has failed to build support from the American people because this war is against their wishes. He knows it is against their wishes because he promised he would not engage in such a war; that he would end wars, not start them; that forever wars would be an anathema. And yet that is the risk we face now-a forever war. Whether it is short or long, a war must be approved by this body," Blumenthal continued.

"President Trump has chosen the path of war that could lead to American men and women on the ground in Iran without explanation, without imminent threat, without clearly defined objectives. This decision carries consequences outlast his presidency. We have a duty, constitutionally, to act on the War Powers Act, and I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting it," Blumenthal concluded.

A video of Blumenthal's remarks is available here. The full transcript is available below.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President, I received a text just a couple of hours ago from a Connecticut serviceman serving in the Middle East, directly in harms way, who asked me a very simple question: what is the vision of success?

I am trying to formulate, for him, an answer that does justice to his sacrifice, that keeps faith with his family and the tens of thousands of other servicemen and women whose bravery is unquestionable. Their skill is undoubtable. Bravery and skill are not a strategy and are not alone a vision of success.

We have said countless times that war must be a last resort, never a first choice. And yet, the administration seems to be engaging in a war of choice that is needles and reckless, conducted chaotically, and most alarmingly, spreading and widening throughout the region.

It is no longer a conflict involving only the United States and Iran or the United States and Israel with Iran. It is now a regional conflagration.

War demands precision and discipline in formulating goals and strategies, in conducting the kinetic operations that are the foundation for success. But in this war, which has been rejected while diplomacy is still within reach, the administration has failed to present the American people with a clear objective, an endgame, or an exit strategy.

It shows exactly why the Founders said that the Congress should have the power to declare war. Not only does the Congress speak for the American people and they must be the ones to approve war, but an arbitrary and reckless use of war power is more likely when it's done by an autocrat who claims and seizes authoritarian power.

There is a discipline imposed when democracy functions and democracy demands passage of the War Powers Act. That's the reason I will vote for it and why I have supported it.

What is the vision of success? The President has been all over the place in his statements on Truth Social, earlier today on TV, snippets of conversation one or two minutes long with reporters individually. It may be deposing a regime, but so far there has been change within the regime, but no regime change. It may be stopping nuclear capacity, but the President said just last June that its capacity has been obliterated.

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said just half an hour or so ago that the goal was to destroy the ballistic missile capability of Iran before they "crossed the line of immunity in a year or a year and a half." Crossing the line of immunity in a year or a year and a half is no imminent threat. Iran has had ballistic missiles for years and the capacity to produce them.

The simple fact is there is no imminent threat, and my colleagues have said publicly that their intelligence briefings indicate that there was no imminent threat either to the homeland or to our allies in the region that justify this attack on Iran.

The simple fact is Donald Trump is workshopping a war. He's making it up as he goes along in real time. He is inventing and then discarding and then reviving objectives, as though he were a child playing with a puzzle, trying to fit the pieces into a coherent hole. There is no coherent hole right now.

It ought to anger the American people that lives are put at risk, that resources are spent, that the region is now on fire without a strategy or an explanation from the President to the American people. Maybe most alarmingly, the administration continues to talk about regime change. Well, history teaches that regime change almost inevitably leads to boots on the ground and prolonged American involvement.

The simple fact is regime change cannot be achieved at 30,000 feet. Air power alone has never delivered regime change. It is a matter of simple common sense. Bombing cannot achieve a change in the governmental structure of a country.

The President has asked that the people of Iran rise up and change their regime. It is an invitation to slaughter, innocent lives potentially lost because of a President that seems to promise relief that he cannot or will not deliver unless our sons and daughters in uniform are put on the ground in Iran, with the burden on them in blood, years lost away from home, and wounds that last long after the fighting ends.

The President has thrust our nation into a widening war that risks almost inevitable expansion, without making the case to the American people, without seeking Congressional authorization, without explaining how the conflict ends, and maybe most egregiously, without building support among the American people.

We sat in the chamber last week for a speech lasting 108 minutes. Only three of those minutes were devoted to Iran, and in a very cursory and superficial way.

He has failed to build support from the American people because this war is against their wishes. He knows it is against their wishes because he promised he would not engage in such a war; that he would end wars, not start them; that forever wars would be an anathema.

And yet that is the risk we face now-a forever war. Whether it is short or long, a war must be approved by this body.

And I want to be clear: a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable. Iran's maligned activities throughout the region, its support for terrorist proxies, its killing its own people, its killing Americans-this regime has blood on its hands. Not just the group that was killed in the attack most recently, but the entire regime. Its destabilizing actions pose a severe danger to us and to our allies, and its terrorist proxies will continue to cause death and destruction throughout the region.

The broad concern about this regime and the threat it poses is well-justified. The President stopped negotiations that might have achieved the same ends he is seeking here. We have seen this story before: the absence of a clear end state, the disregard for diplomacy, military action for regime change.

The President risks repeating some of the most painful chapters in our history. Conflicts that were entered with great confidence and bravado but prolonged without defined purpose or exit. Unilateral action without lawful authorization. This is not how constitutional democracies decide matters of war.

We must not underestimate our adversary amidst this uncertainty. Iran is weakened, but it is far from incapable. Iranian strikes have already killed six servicemembers, and the President himself has said there will be more casualties. It is not a narrow engagement. It is a regional conflict touching many countries, many domains, and potentially many fronts.

My foremost concern is for the safety and well-being of the men and women in our own forces, like the one who texted me today, along with their families who are now in harm's way. I salute their bravery. I pray for their protection. But bravery is not a strategy. Hope is not a strategy.

We must remember that civilians are also caught in the crossfire-families in Iran, Israel, and across the region whose lives have been tragically changed by this widening conflict.

After 20 years of war in the Middle East, after all the lives lost, trillions spent, and promises of quick victory that stretched into years and years of sacrifice, we should be cautious, not reckless, about another potentially open-ended conflict.

Iran's pursuit of nuclear capability, its support for terrorist proxies, its repeated attacks on American personnel are dangerous, destabilizing, and destructive. They have armed militias across the region. They have threatened Israel's security.

We must be vigilant and resolute. But vigilance is not a strategy either, and wars are unpredictable. Vigilance does not mean impulsiveness. Vigilance requires strategy and objectives clearly defined.

The Constitution is clear. Congress alone has the authority to declare war and approve it. It is a necessary part of the process. The War Powers Act requires that the President inform and consult Congress when introducing American forces into hostilities.

These requirements are not optional. They are not procedural niceties. They are the constitutional requirements that must be obeyed.

The question is raised by many: how long will this conflict be prolonged? The simple fact is the President has said four or five weeks, maybe longer, maybe shorter. But we know for sure that the President alone can't answer that question. The enemy has a vote. The enemy can prolong this war.

President Trump has chosen the path of war that could lead to American men and women on the ground in Iran without explanation, without imminent threat, without clearly defined objectives. This decision carries consequences outlast his presidency.

We have a duty, constitutionally, to act on the War Powers Act, and I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting it.

Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.

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