Sen. Kaine questions military actions in Iran, demands congressional oversight

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine is questioning American military action in Iran and whether Congress is being cut out of the decision-making process.

Kaine said Virginians are feeling the cost of the conflict, from higher gas prices to the risk of more troops in harm’s way.

“We all know this was not a war that was started because of the need for an imminent defense,” Kaine said. “It was exactly the kind of war that the framers believed needed congressional authorization.”

The Virginia senator is questioning how the conflict is being handled, pointing to the loss of 14 troops and hundreds of injuries. One of those lost, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan of Spotsylvania County, was a Virginian.

“We’ve seen not only significant injuries and dramatic costs of the war to the Pentagon, to the taxpayer, but also the economic effect of this war leading to spiking energy costs,” Kaine said.

Kaine said gas prices are now over a dollar a gallon higher than before Feb. 28. Since Virginia buys 8 million gallons of gas a day, he said this is a big chunk of money coming out of Virginians’ pockets.

Kaine plans to push for more war authorization votes in the Senate, hoping lawmakers hear concerns from people back home.

“The Constitution clearly prohibits war without a vote of Congress, except if it’s undertaken by the president in the imminent defense of the United States,” Kaine said. “And even then, it’s supposed to get an authorization once the president takes the action to defend the United States.”

Kaine said it doesn’t appear there’s much of a plan to bring the conflict to a close.

“We’re going to keep forcing votes in the hopes that our colleagues, our Senate colleagues, will listen to their constituents,” Kaine said. “I know what their constituents are telling them because I know what Virginians are telling me. This war is not worth it. Another war in the Middle East is not worth it. A war without a plan, without a rationale, without the support of allies, without consulting Congress is not worth it.”

Kaine warned more Americans could pay the price if there’s no clear path forward.

“It’s not worth sending our sons and daughters into harm’s way, potentially, to be killed, as President Trump has decided. We’ll keep pressing forward,” Kaine said.

Kaine said the administration is trying to prepare to ignore not only the Constitution but also the War Powers Resolution statute.

“The fact that there is a, quote, ceasefire in the strait does not mean that there are not hostilities underway. The U.S. is still using the military to punish Iran, even if we’re not actively dropping bombs on them right now,” Kaine said.

Kaine said the normal troop strength of U.S. troops in CENTCOM is around 30,000, but there are 50,000 there now. He said the U.S. is using its Navy to blockade all Iranian ports so that no exports can leave or imports can come in.

“That is still hostilities,” Kaine said.

Kaine said the War Powers Resolution requires hostilities to stop on day 60 unless the president asks for another 30 days to safely withdraw U.S. troops from hostilities. The war started on Feb. 28, and Congress received notice a couple of days later.

“We’re coming right up on the 60th day,” Kaine said.

Kaine said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth advanced a novel argument during a hearing that the 60-day clock requiring the removal of troops from hostilities gets paused during a ceasefire.

“That’s not what the statute says,” Kaine said. “The 60-day starts from the day Congress receives the notice.”

Kaine said there was good news this week about the Ford carrier strike group coming home.

The Ford deployed out of Virginia on a seven-month deployment, with everybody expecting they would be home by Christmas 2025. The Ford is now coming home after having an extended deployment that broke all the post-Vietnam records in terms of how long a strike group was deployed with sailors away from their families.

“I know that news, that the Ford’s coming back, was big, big news and led to a lot of happiness in Hampton Roads,” Kaine said. “They served honorably under some tough conditions, onward fires, other quality of life issues on the boat, degrading because the deployment wasn’t supposed to be that long.”

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