Kaine Statement on Six Months of the Trump-Vance Administration’s Foolish and Illegal War with Iran

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the Trump-Vance Administration's war with Iran stretches into its sixth month today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement:

"Six months ago, the Trump-Vance Administration launched a deeply unpopular war with Iran that has taken the lives of at least 18 servicemembers, injured more than 750 others, killed countless civilians-including over 100 children from one strike alone-and raised Americans' gas costs by tens of billions of dollars. The American people made it crystal clear that they want lower prices, not another endless war in the Middle East, and both houses of Congress have declared this war illegal. Because the Trump-Vance Administration refuses to listen, I'm going to keep doing all that I can to cut off funding for what will go down in history as one of America's most foolish foreign policy catastrophes of all time."

Kaine has consistently been a leading voice to reassert Congress' authority over war powers under Presidents of both parties. He insisted on congressional approval ahead of President Barack Obama's strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Under the Biden Administration, he led a bipartisan bill to repeal the Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) for the 1991 Gulf War and the 2002 Iraq War. The bill became law last year as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Kaine introduced War Powers Resolutions both before and after the Trump-Vance Administration began its present military operations in Iran, Venezuela, and the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. In June, both chambers of Congress voted to end the war in Iran.

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