Two of California’s top Democrats are criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran without prior Congressional authorization, warning that the escalation risks a broader war that could cost American lives and sidestep constitutional limits on executive war powers.
U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), whose district covers Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, said the strikes “clearly break” promises to avoid new foreign wars and put Americans first.
“President Trump promised to put Americans first and end foreign wars, but his actions in Iran clearly break those promises. The American people want solutions to the issues close to home, such as addressing the cost-of-living crisis. They do not want to be dragged into another reckless and endless war in the Middle East that will result in countless casualties.
“Congress was not given any information that would indicate there was an imminent threat coming from Iran. Without such credible evidence, there’s no justification in sending our servicemembers into this conflict. [Saturday’s] strikes are another instance of President Trump bypassing Congress to unilaterally launch an unprovoked military operation with no defined plan. I call on Speaker Johnson and Republican leadership to get off the sidelines and reassert Congress’s constitutional duty to serve as a check on the President.”
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) echoed those concerns, arguing that the Constitution requires Congress to authorize large-scale military operations.
“This decision to strike Iran without Congressional approval stands in stark contrast to a President who promised to put Americans first and end foreign wars. At a time when millions of hardworking families face higher costs of living and skyrocketing health care to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, Donald Trump is now pushing the country toward a war that risks American lives without presenting a clear justification to the American people or any plan to prevent escalation and chaos in the region.
“The Iranian regime has oppressed its own people, and its state sponsored terrorism and nuclear ambitions pose significant risks to the safety of Americans and regional stability. We must work with our allies to counter those threats. Regardless of what the President may think or say, he does not enjoy a blank check to launch large-scale military operations without a clear strategy, without any transparency or public debate, and not without Congressional approval.
“The Constitution is clear, and Republican members of Congress must join us in holding this administration accountable and restoring Congress’s role in foreign policy.”
Conflict escalated sharply Monday, March 2, as Iran and allied militias launched attacks on Israel, Arab states, and U.S. military positions, while the United States and Israel carried out additional strikes inside Iran. The U.S. military said Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American fighter jets during a combat mission; all six pilots ejected and were in stable condition. Israeli forces, responding to barrages from the Iran‑backed Hezbollah, struck targets in southern Lebanon, where at least 31 people were killed and 149 injured, according to multiple sources.
The latest hostilities follow Saturday’s joint U.S.-Israeli strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an operation that set off global reverberations including canceled flights, deadly protests, suspended shipping, and surging oil prices, reports PBS News.
Inside Iran, the Iranian Red Crescent reported strikes on 131 cities, with at least 555 killed, and said attacks in Tehran appeared to knock state television off the air. Fears of a broader war deepened as Iran expanded attacks on regional energy infrastructure. Qatar’s state‑owned QatarEnergy cited the conflict and assaults on its facilities in Qatar in announcing a halt to liquefied natural gas production, pulling one of the world’s top suppliers from the market.
U.S. Central Command said three American service members were killed during Saturday’s operation in Iran; a fourth died Monday of injuries sustained in the initial strike, PBS News reports.
Trump spoke hours after the announcement of the first three deaths. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” the president said in a six-minute video posted to Truth Social. “… [W]e’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case, but America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.”
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the U.S.-Israeli air campaign “the most precise aerial operation in history” and condemned Tehran’s “expansionist and Islamist regime.” In a video Sunday, President Donald Trump described the offensive as “one of the most complex, most overwhelming” ever and said it would continue until “all of our objectives” are achieved.
What comes next
- Authorization questions: The War Powers Resolution requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing U.S. forces into hostilities and limits such actions to 60 days (with a 30‑day withdrawal period) absent congressional authorization. Lawmakers from both parties will press for legal justifications and any claims of imminent threat.
- Risk of wider conflict: Associated Press’ reporting of Hezbollah strikes from Lebanon and counterstrikes in Beirut underscores the danger of regional spillover involving Iran-aligned militias and U.S. forces stationed across the Gulf.
- Human and economic costs: With the first known U.S. casualties since strikes on Iran began, members of both chambers are likely to seek classified briefings on force protection and escalation management, while constituents face uncertainty over energy prices and global markets typical of major Middle East crises.
The use of such force by the President without Congressional action requires an imminent threat. There was none. The Secretary of Defense (War in this case) and the Secretary of State said that there was a threat to Israel and equated that threat to a threat against the US. This is absurd but in fact the US has been following Netanyahu’s dark path for years. As a result thousands are dead, huge property loss has resulted, the American taxpayer is out billions of dollars in war materiel given and spent on Israeli defense. There are worse regimes in the world than Iran, including both Putin’s and Kim’s which are in fact nuclear armed. Yet we let Russia destroy and kill in Ukraine to a greater extent than Ira has done in their neighborhood. We need someone to speak the truth about this. If it is the burden of the US to intervene to stamp out evil how are we prioritizing that evil?
RHS – 100%. Based on Rubio’s own words, this was a pre-preemptive act of aggression against a sovereign nation we were in the middle of diplomatic negotiations with. This was a sucker punch on a global level. To call it “defensive” is incredibly insulting to the functioning minds of the world. We launched a surprise attack against a country with NO nukes, NO ICBMs and NO ability to hit US soil and we didn’t even ask Congress for input. Stupid, failed men who thrive on violence and machismo are running our country and sending our kids to die while we kill other people’s children, for what? Well, better question is, for whom?
The irony….Ukraine anyone?
STEVE – uh…. we at war with Ukraine? Do you know what the words you use actually mean?
What about it.
F in vocabulary and logic.
Wait a second, hold on everyone! Trump actually had a replacement leader in mind! He has a plan!
““We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back to the people, and we’ll see what happens to the people,” Trump said. The president added that he had at least one replacement in mind who is now dead.” https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-03-26?post-id=cmmawr6d900013b6v9vav6ruj
Oh, never mind.
“What would Salud do?”
– No one, ever
Don’t worry folks, the war won’t be “endless.” Trump assured us we have enough defensive weapons to fight this war “forever.” Surely, Iran can’t possibly keep defending itself forever! Oh, and military commanders have told soldiers this is now a Christian war, so God won’t let us all keep fighting, right?
“more than 200 new complaints since Saturday’s initial strikes against Iran, with members across all services claiming that high-ranking officers are tying the mission overseas to fulfilling a Christian prophecy.”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/03/03/military-officers-accused-of-framing-iran-war-biblical-mandate.html
Also, the guys he was thinking about installing as the new leadership are all dead because we and/or Israel funking bombed them, so Trump will just have to quickly pick some new leaders. Oh, what’s that you say, Mr. Trump….?
“Earlier on Tuesday, at a news conference in Washington, President Trump said that many of the people his government had viewed as potential leaders of Iran had been killed since Saturday. “Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody,” he said.”
Aw, shoot! Ok, well maybe Iran (you know, the country we are “liberating” by killing them) has some ideas on leadership…..
“The senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran’s next supreme leader met on Tuesday to deliberate, and the son of the slain former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emerged as the clear front-runner, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations.”
Yeah! They Ayatollah’s kid will now lead Iran. Well, he must be a nice guy, right? Right?
“If he is elected, it suggests it is a much more hard-line Revolutionary Guard side of the regime that is now in charge.””
Oh snap! Guess that whole thing backfired….
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/world/middleeast/iran-mojtaba-khamenei-successor.html?smid=url-share
JFC you just can’t make this up. We have got to have the dumbest people on Earth running this Pearl Harbor Part 2 “war.” And then we have those who cheer the idiocy on.
The past year has been bad enough, but we’ve now taken this 2-brain celled, drunken, glue-sniffing MAGA clown show on the road and are killing innocent people throughout the Middle East. The stuff I am reading and hearing direct from the puckered lips of the rapists and criminals in charge is honestly shocking, even for America.
This will be our nation’s downfall.
Everyone has a right to be upset for any reason whatsoever, but this comes across as yet another overreaction. Something is lost when just about everything is a “10” on the emotional/reaction Richter scale. It does not make sense that each and every problem can be traced to you-know-who and those who support you-know-who. Just sayin’.
BEES – what about my comment is “overreaction?” These are all FACTS.
Name one of these that didn’t happen or is not as bad as it sounds.
Having no plan for regime change after targeting and assassinating a foreign leader? Pretty bad.
Telling troops this is a holy war of sorts? Yeah, pretty bad.
The Ayatollah’s son being a hardliner possibly worse than his dad and now being touted as likely successor? That’s no good.
So go ahead. Tell us which of these FACTS are not something to be worried about?
Bees – I stand corrected – THIS is the dumbest, and most moronic statement I have ever rad on this website.
Hard to take these complaints to seriously. The last time Congress declared war was 1942, 84 years of conflicts without congressional approval. Obama bombed Libya for 7 months with congressional approval.
00ps – hard to take you seriously and all the other cons in the brain trust here who refuse to address what is happening now and keep saying “what about Biden/Clinton/Obama?”
I have opposed ALL bombings by ALL presidents. Most of us have. “What about” is not an answer.
The people of Iran are quite happy with the decisions made by Trump/Bibi. Iranians are celebrating in the streets across Iran and across the globe. There are a smattering of people who are not happy simply due to their distaste for Israel and/or Trump. We should all celebrate with the people of Iran and hope they can have their country back in the near future.
BEES – do you know any Iranians? Sure, many are happy the Ayatollah is dead. Who wouldn’t be. BUT, they do not necessarily trust the US to make life easier for them, especially as we are killing hundreds of children (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4zze5lzjpo). The Iranians who are still in Iran have a legitimate concern: what next? The US has made it clear we have no plan whatsoever for installing a peaceful, democratic regime. Any celebration MAGA is relying on, is short lived, at least in Iran.
To say there’s only a “smattering of people” who disagree with this war is absolute, 100% proof you have no idea what you’re saying. Read the news. Most countries on the planet outright oppose this or are very skeptical of this war, including our NATO allies. Most people in America oppose this war. Heck, here’s one now…. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/just-one-four-americans-support-us-strikes-iran-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-03-01/
It’s readily apparent that on this topic, much like all others you broach, you are either not well informed at all, reading MAGA memes instead of actual news, or are simply trolling.
Which is it?
DISCLAIMER FOR THE SIMPLE FOLK: these are not “insults.” Stating these options for the this reasoning is simply stating fact. Calling someone who makes claims like that above, “not well informed,” is simply a statement of fact. These are objectionable and verifiable facts.
Hey BEES, here is an account of a person ACTUALLY IN IRAN….
““All the people are afraid,” an Austrian resident named Omid told Reuters. “You see maybe in the social media that people … are happy because (Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is dead, but that is, I think, just social media. Everybody in Iran, they are afraid.””
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-04-26?post-id=cmmciqzue00003b6s99jvwfil
Maybe try to think more before painting all Iranians as “celebrating” this war.
Bees – This is quite possibly the dumbest, and most moronic statement I have ever rad on this website.
Wow! Repeated Bending of the Knees seems to cause delusions and hallucinations.
Hey BEES, KAPO and all the other suckers who believe whatever Trump/Fox/Memes tell them. You still think Iranians are celebrating in the streets of Iran?
“Iranians trickling across the border into Turkey this week painted a picture of destruction and fear hanging over their cities under U.S.-Israeli bombardment
……..
“We are scared of everything,” Ms. Alizade, a pharmacist, said. “I am in constant fear.”
Ms. Alizade said she plans to stay with an aunt who lives in Western Turkey until hostilities abate. She has closed her pharmacy for now. “Most of the pharmacies are shut down,” she said.
The drug distribution centers are closed too, disrupting the supply chain. “People are scared to go out,” she said.
…
Leyla Rabet Nejad Saed, 27, was among them. She had been living in Istanbul and planning her wedding there later this month. The war has canceled those plans. On Friday, she said she was heading back to her family in Shiraz. “How can I be safe when my family is in danger,” she said.”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/06/world/iran-war-trump-israel-lebanon/iranians-flee-to-turkey-i-am-in-constant-fear-says-one?smid=url-share
Sorry, but getting really sick of the MAGA crowd, and ONLY the MAGA crowd, portraying this devastating war as a “liberation” and looking at a couple photos of Iranians IN AMERICA cheering and saying how all Iranians are happy about this.
They are being bombed, kids killed, no leadership and no plan for the future.
Enough with the fantasy land. War is real. No one is cheering in Iran.
Trump and MAGA have similar values to the Third Reich and ISIS (aka Islamic State).