WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump’s authority to order a limited strike against Iran without first seeking permission from Congress.
“A single bombing run, historically, has not been understood to require congressional authorization,” Cruz told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. “To engage in sustained hostility, to engage in continued warfare does require congressional authorization.”
The president’s authority to order a strike against Iran, as well as the wisdom of such action, are pressing questions after Trump returned from the G7 summit early this week to consider joining Israel in its military campaign to stop Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Cruz said Israel has done an “extraordinary job” of eliminating Iran’s senior military leadership and nuclear scientists since launching its campaign last week, while decimating many of its nuclear facilities.
A key facility in Fordo, where much of Iran’s nuclear weapons research occurs, was built into the base of a mountain and designed to withstand aerial bombardment.
Taking out the Fordo facility would require massive “bunker buster” bombs. Israel reportedly has neither those bombs nor the type of bombers needed to deliver them.
The United States has both.
Cruz has been a longtime, vocal supporter of Israel, advocating for the U.S. to share the bunker buster bombs with it. He said Tuesday a strike to eliminate the Fordo facility is no doubt being discussed by Trump administration officials and Israel.
“I don’t know what the president is going to decide on that front,” Cruz said. “Taking out Fordo would make America much safer and what Israel is doing right now is an enormous favor to the United States.”
Asked about the situation with Israel, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said “they ought to finish the job” and declined to answer further questions on the topic.
“You’ve got my answer,” Cornyn said.
The U.S. House is on recess this week, with many of its members on official overseas travel. Some Texas Republicans said they are putting their faith in Trump to navigate the fraught situation successfully.
“I’m sleeping well at night knowing Donald Trump is in charge, and I will enthusiastically support whatever decision he makes,” U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, said in a statement.
“I agree with President Trump, Iran can never have nuclear weapons capabilities and I trust he is receiving the most accurate information upon which to make decisions,” said U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving.
She said Iranian leaders are not trustworthy given their support for terrorist groups and longstanding “Death to America” messaging.
“I will not shed a tear if they are removed from power and their nuclear sites are turned to dust,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, said in a statement that Iran must not become a nuclear power and that its supreme leader is not to be trusted.
“If there is clear intelligence and analysis that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, then it would be in our national interest to prevent that from happening by any means necessary,” Self said.
Republicans have criticized the Iran nuclear deal struck by former President Barack Obama as misguided and Trump withdrew from it during his first term. Democrats have criticized that decision as a mistake that has led to this point.
“Donald Trump’s short-sighted withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement placed Israel in a position where it felt a preemptive strike in self-defense was necessary,” U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said in a news release last week.
Veasey said Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Israel, the region and the United States.
“Israel’s right to self-defense in the face of the Iranian regime’s nuclear threat is paramount to the future safety of the region and of Americans as a whole,” Veasey said.
U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, said in a statement that Israel has every right to defend itself, the world is better off when Iran is unable to create a nuclear weapon and she supports tighter sanctions on Iran along with new enforcement tools.
“We must continue to employ diplomacy to supplement our policy objectives in the region, especially since the Trump Administration appears unprepared to undertake another entanglement in the Middle East with no clear end goal,” Johnson said.
She said Congress has the sole and final say in declaring war and the Trump administration “must respect this founding principle.”
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, posted on X last week that Trump promised peace and stability but is now pushing escalation in a conflict that he exacerbated by tearing up the nuclear deal.
“Trump must not violate the Constitution by involving American troops in Netanyahu’s war without coming to Congress,” Casar posted.
Casar this week endorsed a resolution prohibiting U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Some conservative pundits, including Tucker Carlson, have been pushing back on the idea of U.S. military strikes against Iran, suggesting it runs counter to Trump’s “America First” agenda.
Cruz highlighted how that sentiment also has echoed among some conservatives on social media.
“There are some voices on Twitter who have decided that what America first means is that we retreat from the world and we don’t actually stand up to our enemies,” Cruz said on his podcast. “And I’m here to tell you that is not America first.”
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, a leading policy voice among the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, posted on X in favor of “strategic limited support for Israel’s targeting & denial of Iranian nukes” while rejecting “Effort for ground troops, regime change, soccer fields, supplemental funding, or endless war garbage of the last 25 years.”
Roy posted again later, appearing to address conservative voices criticizing potential strikes against Iran.
“I respect my friends [who are] suspicious of damaging endless wars,” Roy said. “But, [Trump] is the Commander in Chief, and provided he is operating within his Constitutional powers to defend our nation, consider that he might end the endless war we’ve practically had with Iran since 1979.”