Right now, the war is being waged via massive airstrikes and assassinations. Whether the Pentagon is gearing up for something analogous to Iraq—boots on the ground, a conflict that drags on for years, or both—is not clear, though the size of its budget request certainly suggests a conflict that is far from “very complete.” And Reuters reported late Thursday that the administration “is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East”—and to secure the Strait of Hormuz, which, two U.S. officials acknowledged to the outlet, “could also mean deploying U.S. troops to Iran’s shoreline.”
This war was started without any meaningful attempt to persuade the public of its necessity. It was also started, unconstitutionally, without congressional approval—but that only seems to bother the Democrats. GOP Senator Rand Paul led an effort in the Senate on Thursday to require such approval to continue the war; it failed by a 47–53 vote, with Paul the only Republican voting in favor. But this isn’t the last they’ll be asked to weigh in on the war, if indeed the administration goes to Congress with its $200 billion request. GOP Senator Susan Collins said the figure was “considerably higher than I would have guessed,” while her Republican colleague Lisa Murkowski said, “You just can’t come up here with an invoice and say, you know, ‘Pay this,’ and expect to have great cooperation going forward.”
It’s possible that in this critical election year, many Republicans do not want to “approve” the war because doing so would mean taking responsibility for it. For now, this is Trump’s war, not theirs. But approving $200 billion, or even a smaller figure, would be congressional authorization by another name, at least in the eyes of the public. An appropriations fight will be a test of the seriousness of Democratic opposition and Republican support; it will also be a test of congressional seriousness itself. This war is unpopular, aimless, and illegal—and the Trump administration is preparing to ask for enough money to fund it for many months to come. If Congress can’t hold the line here, with a new forever war in the offing, then when will it ever?
