On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) stated that President Donald Trump didn’t need congressional approval to carry out the strikes on Iran, but would need it for a “longer incursion” and cited precedent from strikes carried out by Presidents Clinton and Obama.
Gottheimer said, [relevant remarks begin around 3:40] “I disagree with some of my colleagues. But, to that point, other presidents, including President Clinton in Kosovo, President Obama in Libya, obviously, took action to protect [from] an imminent threat [to] the United States. Iran’s nuclear activity, I believe, is an imminent threat to our safety and security. So, obviously, deemed worthy of action. I think if you have a longer incursion…and a longer involvement of our forces, then the President, of course, should come to Congress.”
He continued, “But, obviously, I think these actions were necessary given the imminent threat — not just the terror threat, but the nuclear threat. And we know that Iran is not our friend, right? They have killed scores and scores of Americans, threatened our servicemembers, through their proxies, gone after our bases, and deserved, of course, to do everything to stop their nuclear threat. And so, obviously, I think this was the right decision. It was clear and decisive and the right action. Again, I think that if there is a longer-term involvement, the President should come to Congress. And, also, the President should brief Congress, not just the Gang of Eight. And I think it was not the right move not to brief the full Gang of Eight before. The President and his people should have done that. They also should be briefing us with the intelligence. And I think it’s very important. Those are two different things. The action in Iran is one thing, but, of course, briefing us is another.”
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