Rep. Sean Casten (D-Il.) said late Saturday that President Trump’s move to bomb Iranian nuclear sites without congressional approval amounts to an “unambiguous impeachable offense.”
“This is not about the merits of Iran’s nuclear program,” Casten said in a post on the social platform X. “No president has the authority to bomb another country that does not pose an imminent threat to the US without the approval of Congress. This is an unambiguous impeachable offense.”
“I’m not saying we have the votes to impeach,” he added. “I’m saying that you DO NOT do this without Congressional approval and if [Speaker Mike] Johnson [(R-La.)] doesn’t grow a spine and learn to be a real boy tomorrow we have a BFing problem that puts our very Republic at risk.”
Casten’s comments came shortly after Trump announced Saturday evening that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordow, saying, “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”
Casten noted that “imminent threat” is a “gray area” and that sometimes “there is a case that Presidents need to move to protect the homeland quickly in some cases,” adding, “This was not that.”
Casten made clear that he is not disputing that Iran posed a nuclear threat, saying the Fordow facility “had enriched significant volumes of weapons-grade material.”
He continued: “But they did not have it mounted on a weapons system that could have hit Israel between now and when Congress is back in session next week. Or before we could schedule a F-ing zoom call.”
He also clarified that he is “open to the idea that the US should attack Iran.”
“But I am not open to the idea that Congress cedes all authority to the executive branch,” he said. “No matter how many lickspittle sycophants in the GOP argue to the contrary.”
The announcement of U.S. action against Iran came two days after the White House said Trump would decide whether to get involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel “in the next two weeks” to give a window for negotiations.
White House sources indicated the U.S. had given Israel a heads up before it struck the Iranian sites and that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke after the strikes.
The strikes marked a significant entrance by the U.S. into a conflict between Israel and Iran that had been underway for more than a week. They also indicated a shift by Trump, who said he was seeking a diplomatic solution with Iran and sent U.S. officials to make a deal with Tehran on its nuclear program.