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Fury Grows Over Democratic Complacency in Face of Looming War of Choice in Iran
"It's embarrassing that some problematic far-right figures are speaking out more forcefully against direct military action than the so-called leaders of the opposition," said the executive director of Our Revolution.
Jun 19, 2025
With just a relative handful of Democratic lawmakers backing legislation that would compel President Donald Trump to obtain congressional approval for an attack on Iran and many more Democrats voicing support for Israel as it kills hundreds of Iranian civilians while continuing its annihilation of Gaza, progressives on Thursday implored voters to pressure their representatives to oppose yet another U.S. war of choice.
While Trump has reportedly approved plans to join a war that fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says is meant to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons that every U.S. administration this century—including his own—says Tehran is not trying to build, Democratic pushback against possible war has largely been limited to three pieces of proposed legislation that would require lawmakers' approval for military action, as mandated by the War Powers Resolution of 1973, also known as the War Powers Act.
"If your argument is that Trump is an authoritarian danger to democracy but sure, let's follow him into another war, you are a complete fraud."
Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt) No War With Iran Act, which has just seven co-sponsors, would prohibit use of federal funds for an attack on Iran. A separate Senate bill introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) would also block Trump from waging war on Iran absent congressional approval, while a similar measure put forth in the House by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California has drawn the support of 15 Democratic colleagues.
Meanwhile, under relentless pressure from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)—which spent over $100 million in the 2024 election cycle on largely successful efforts to oust progressive opponents of Israel's war on Gaza—dozens of congressional Democrats have voiced support for Israel's unprovoked and illegal attack on Iran, which has killed or wounded around 2,000 people and prompted Iranian retaliation that has left hundreds of Israelis dead or injured.
On Wednesday, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution praising and expressing support for Israel's so-called "preemptive" war on Iran. Sherman's measure is backed by more than a dozen Republican lawmakers and a pair of Democrats, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.). Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have both also publicly backed Israel.
"This is now defining for the Democratic Party," Khanna asserted in the face of his party's ambivalence. "Are we going to criticize the offensive weapons for Netanyahu and the blank check? Are we going to stand up with clarity against the strikes on Iran? Are we going to actually be the party of peace, or are we going to be just another party of war?"
On @chrislhayes.bsky.social, I called on @schumer.senate.gov to support @kaine.senate.gov, @sanders.senate.gov, Rep. Massie & my resolution opposing a war in Iran. This is a defining moment for our party where too many blundered in supporting the Iraq war.Now we need to be clear — no war in Iran.
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— Ro Khanna (@rokhanna.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Other Democrats, including but by no means limited to Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio)—who have collectively raked in more than $2.2 million in campaign cash from the pro-Israel lobby, according to Track AIPAC—have voiced support for attacking Iran.
"The Democratic Party has an AIPAC problem," Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told Common Dreams Thursday. "Too many of its leaders seem more afraid of crossing a powerful lobbying group than they are of dragging the U.S. into another costly regime change war."
"It's embarrassing that some problematic far-right figures are speaking out more forcefully against direct military action than the so-called leaders of the opposition," he added. "Much like [former President] Joe Biden's indefensible handling of the genocide in Gaza, this is yet another example of Democrats squandering their credibility with young, progressive, and independent-leaning voters."
RootsAction national director Norman Solomon—author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death—told Common Dreams Thursday that "current members of Congress, in effect, belong to a war party or a peace party—and it has nothing to do with whether they have a 'D' or an 'R' after their names."
"Many Democrats in Congress—who were silent while Trump killed the Obama-era nuclear deal during his first term and then President Biden refused to revive it—are now trying to score partisan points against Trump without clearly and emphatically opposing any U.S. direct attack on Iran, let alone opposing Israel's immense war crime of launching an aggressive war on Iran," he added.
Like Solomon, progressive economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs noted that "there are warmongers in both parties, and peacemakers in both parties."
"An antiwar coalition is possible but needs to be bipartisan," he told Common Dreams.
Some of the most vocal opponents of a U.S. attack on Iran—a country that hasn't started a war since the mid-19th century when it was the Persian Empire, but has endured U.S. regime change and destabilization efforts for 70 years—have been Iranian Americans.
"There is deep frustration and disappointment across our community with the Democratic Party's overall reluctance to meet the moment with the urgency and moral clarity it demands," Isabella Javidan, communications manager at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), told Common Dreams Thursday.
"While some lawmakers are thankfully backing War Powers Resolutions to prevent unauthorized U.S. military involvement, too many Democrats are either silent or hedging, despite an illegal and catastrophic assault that has already killed hundreds of civilians in Iran and dragged the U.S. to the brink of war," Javidan continued.
"This isn't just about diplomacy or restraint, it's also about preventing history from repeating itself," Javidan added. "The U.S. has been here before, and we know what happens when political leaders fail to speak out against reckless, one-sided escalations. Many in our community are alarmed that, despite the human toll, there's an absence of strong Democratic leadership publicly opposing the warpath being laid out by Netanyahu and endorsed by some in Congress."
Referring to the recent U.S. intelligence assessment which, like several before it, concluded that Iran is not seeking nukes, Branko Marcetic lamented in a Jacobin article published Wednesday that "pro-war officials, both Democrat and Republican, have simply decided to pretend this never happened."
In a separate piece for Responsible Statecraft, Marcetic noted that even progressive Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon referenced "Iran's nuclear ambitions."
Ironically, much of Trump's 2016 foreign policy platform involved excoriating the Bush administration's lies about Iraq's nonexistent quest for weapons of mass destruction.
"Trump is now a fingernail's length away from doing exactly what he bashed Bush for doing in order to kickstart his political ascent," Marcetic wrote for Jacobin.
Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former senior foreign policy adviser to Sanders, said on social media that "any Democrat who can't stand up and speak out now against the Trump-Netanyahu regime change war should not even consider running in 2028. You're not who this country needs."
"Seriously," Duss continued, "if your argument is that Trump is an authoritarian danger to democracy but sure, let's follow him into another war, you are a complete fraud."
"Any Democrat who can't stand up and speak out now against the Trump-Netanyahu regime change war should not even consider running in 2028."
Duss quipped, "I'll be accepting apologies from everyone who insisted we needed to welcome Bill Kristol in our coalition," referring to the "never-Trump" neoconservative co-founder of the Project for the New American Century, who has been an Iran hawk for decades.
There's a politically expedient motivator for eschewing war on Iran—it's unpopular among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. An Economist/YouGov poll published earlier this week found that 60% of all respondents oppose U.S. involvement in the war, while just 16% supported military action and 24% were unsure. A slim majority of 2024 Trump voters don't want war with Iran and slightly more Republican respondents than Democrats support U.S. negotiations with Iran.
Astonishing that only 16% of Americans think the US should join Israel’s war on Iran but so few Democrats are speaking out against it. The gaping disconnect between Dem politicians and the Dem base we saw on Gaza continues to cripple effective opposition.
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— Abu Aardvark’s Ghost (@abuaardvark.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM
"What this all boils down to," said Solomon, "is the imperative for all of us to demand that the U.S. not engage in any military action against Iran and insist that Israel halt its war of aggression—and that the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran for a new nuclear deal be resumed and completed for an agreement."
"As constituents, we need to let all elected officials know that pursuit of peace is essential—and anything less is an insane push toward nuclear annihilation," he added.
Disclosure: The author of this article recently served as the co-chair of San Francisco Berniecrats, an Our Revolution affiliate.
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House Progressives Back War Powers Resolution as Trump Ratchets Up Rhetoric Against Iran
"The president does not have the power to unilaterally declare war," asserted Rep. Summer Lee. "Congressional authorization isn't optional."
Jun 17, 2025
Numerous House progressives said Tuesday that they will support legislation that would force President Donald Trump to obtain congressional permission to wage war on Iran, a development that followed Monday's introduction of two Senate measures aimed at stopping Trump from dragging the United States into the widening Israel-Iran war.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Tuesday introduced legislation affirming the legal requirement under the War Powers Resolution of 1973—also known as the War Powers Act—for the president to notify lawmakers within 48 hours of committing troops to military action and limiting such action to 60 days, with a 30-day withdrawal period, unless Congress declares war or issues an authorization for the use of military force.
"The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn't attacked the United States," Massie explained in a statement. "Congress has the sole power to declare war against Iran. The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution."
In a post on the social media site X, Massie thanked the resolution's co-sponsors, all of them Democrats: Don Beyer (Va.), Greg Casar (Texas), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Jesús "Chuy" García (Ill.), Val Hoyle (Ore.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Summer Lee (Pa.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.).
More lawmakers—possibly including Republicans—are expected to sign on to the measure.
"The president does not have the power to unilaterally declare war. Congressional authorization isn't optional," Lee said on social media. "When some profit both financially and politically from endless war, the rest of us pay the price. We can't let them lie us into another conflict that will cost innocent lives."
Tlaib asserted that "the American people aren't falling for it again. We were lied to about 'weapons of mass destruction' in Iraq that killed millions [and] forever changed lives."
The progressive political action committee Justice Democrats welcomed Massie's measure: "Here's an opportunity for bipartisanship that doesn't sell out the American people. Every member of Congress should oppose U.S. involvement, funding, weapons, or troops fighting another endless war in the Middle East."
The House proposal follows Monday's introduction of a war powers resolution by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would prevent the Trump administration from using federal funds for a military attack on Iran without congressional approval. It also echoes a 2020 resolution proposed in the then-Democrat-controlled House that would have banned Trump from waging war on Iran without lawmakers' approval.
Explaining her support for Massie's legislation, Omar said, "I support this resolution because the American people do not want another war."
Indeed, an Economist/YouGov poll published Tuesday revealed that only 16% of surveyed voters "think the U.S. should get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran." Just 10% of respondents who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris last year and 19% of 2024 Trump voters want the U.S. to wage war on Iran, as do 15% of self-described Democrats, 11% of Independents, and 23% of Republicans.
A separate survey commissioned by Demand Progress and conducted by the Bullfinch Group recently found that 53% of registered voters—including 58% of Democrats, 47% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans—want Trump to "obtain congressional authorization before striking targets in other countries."
"We applaud Rep. Massie and Sen. Kaine for introducing these resolutions to keep us out of yet another war in the Middle East," Demand Progress senior policy adviser Cavan Kharrazian said Tuesday. "It should be in the interest of Republicans and Democrats to uphold the Constitution and prevent Israel from dragging us into a disastrous war with Iran."
"The American people, including a clear majority of Republican voters, believe the president must obtain congressional authorization before initiating strikes against another country," Kharrazian added. "Congress must listen to them and reassert its constitutional war powers authority by passing these resolutions."
Israel claims it attacked Iran to stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons. However, successive U.S. intelligence assessments have concluded for decades—most recently in March—that Iran is not trying to build nukes. On Tuesday, Trump brushed off his own director of national intelligence's findings that Iran is not close to having a nuclear bomb.
As Trump ratcheted up his cryptic threats against Tehran amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Iran and Iranian counterstrikes, anti-war voices including the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and the peace group CodePink urged restraint and negotiation to avert escalating the Mideast crisis.
NIAC, which is circulating a petition demanding Congress act to avert U.S. intervention, is planning to hold a Tuesday afternoon No War With Iran Action Hour co-hosted with Peace Action and Action Corps.
"Trump continues to renege on his own commitments to diplomacy and an end to wars by perpetuating [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's war of aggression through his own vocal support and U.S. military equipment and personnel in the region," NIAC said Tuesday. "Israel's assaults on Tehran have killed upwards of 224 Iranians and hospitalized over 1,277 more."
"Happening at the same time, in just the last day alone, Israeli forces have also killed at least 51 Palestinians desperate for aid and food at a World Food Program site in southern Gaza," NIAC noted. "There is no telling how much more devastation for Iran, Israel, and the U.S. an expanded war on Iran would bring."
"President Trump must immediately halt military aid and support for the Israel war on Iran," the group added, "and if he will not, Congress must act within its constitutional authority to save millions of American, Iranian, Israeli, and Palestinian lives."
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David Hogg Says Any Democrat Who Supports War With Iran 'Should Be Primaried'
"Our generation grew up going through two multi-trillion dollar wars we should have never been involved in," said the youth organizer recently ousted by the DNC. "If you think this is a good idea read a history book."
Jun 17, 2025
With just a handful of Democratic lawmakers so far backing a push to prevent an overwhelmingly unpopular march to war with Iran, progressive organizer David Hogg on Tuesday said those who don't align themselves with the vast majority of Americans on the issue should face primary challenges in upcoming elections.
"Any Democrat who supports this war with Iran needs to be primaried," said Hogg, a gun control activist who briefly served as co-vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and angered leaders by pushing for primary challenges. "Our generation grew up going through two multi-trillion dollar wars we should have never been involved in. We are not fucking going back to that. If you think this is a good idea read a history book."
Hogg's comments came days after Israel launched sweeping attacks on Iran amid U.S.-Iran talks on the Middle Eastern country's nuclear development.
At least 224 people have been killed and 1,481 wounded since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began launching air strikes on hundreds of targets last Friday, including nuclear facilities and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting headquarters.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that American forces "could get involved" in the conflict between the two countries, and the U.S. military has already had "full and complete coordination" with the IDF, as one Israeli official said after the bombing campaign began in Iran last week, with American fighter jets reportedly "patrolling the sky" in the Middle East and dozens of Air Force refueling planes headed for Europe over the weekend.
The reports intensified concerns among progressives of more direct U.S. involvement in the conflict, and led to renewed calls for the Trump administration to end its support for Israel as the IDF also continued its U.S.-backed slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
As Common Dreams reported Monday, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a war powers resolution to stop Trump from attacking Iran without congressional approval.
The resistance to war with the Middle Eastern country has bipartisan backing, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introducing a similar resolution in the House and garnering the support of progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Don Beyer (D-Va.).
Zeteo reporter Prem Thakker said Monday evening that just over 2% of members of Congress have backed legislative efforts to stop the U.S. from expanding its involvement in Israel's bombardment of Iran—even as a Brookings Institution poll showed that more than two-thirds of Americans back diplomatic talks to limit Iran's nuclear program and just 14% of Americans support military action to stop Iranian nuclear development.
At the Center for International Policy, executive vice president Matt Duss said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clearly starting a "war of choice" with Iran "to sabotage diplomacy" regarding its nuclear program after having pushed Trump to "make the terrible mistake" of withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
"Netanyahu has now outmaneuvered him to the severe detriment of U.S. interests and put American military and diplomatic personnel in harm’s way," said Duss. "Responsible lawmakers who prioritize American safety and security are rightly speaking out against Netanyahu’s irresponsible provocation, reflecting the views of an overwhelming majority of Americans who favor diplomacy over war to restrain Iran’s nuclear activities."
"Immediately ending this violence and finding a path back to viable negotiations should be the guiding priority for the U.S. government, rather than belligerent rhetoric and the continued supply of offensive weapons that enables yet another horrific conflict endangering millions," he added.
Lily Greenberg Call, a former Interior Department official who was appointed by former President Joe Biden but resigned in protest of his administration's support for Israel's assault on Gaza, condemned Democratic leaders for their "shameful fucking silence" on potential war with Iran.
"Most Americans, including their base, don't want the U.S. under Trump to go to war with Iran and have been horrified at almost two years of footage of murder in Gaza," said Greenberg Call. "We won't accept this and we won't forget in '26 and '28."
Hogg demanded that Democrats unite "against Trump and his war" and pointed out that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle regularly claim that broadly popular proposals for investments in effective programs like Medicare for All and universal childcare are unaffordable.
"Where are all the 'we can't afford it' politicians," asked Hogg, "now that we're on the brink of what could be another multi-trillion dollar war?"
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