Anxiety is growing on Capitol Hill over the unclear scope and objective of President Donald Trump’s seemingly imminent military campaign against Iran.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said again Thursday he didn’t think Trump “has made any decisions,” yet lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the lack of insight they’ve received into a possible operation, as well as the risks such a move could pose for the tens of thousands of U.S. troops in the region.
Republicans have increasingly voiced support for regime change in Iran. But as Trump casts greater attention on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, questions remain over what the administration’s ultimate goal is.
“It’s in our national security interest to achieve regime change, but I haven’t given a lot of thought in particular as to what that looks like,” Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said of the situation in Iran: “It’s serious, and we need the administration to lay out its goals to the American people.”
Talks continued Thursday between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi — a mediator of the discussions — cited “significant progress in the negotiation” in a post on X. MS NOW reported that Albusaidi will meet with Vice President JD Vance and other U.S. officials in Washington on Friday.
Not like Caracas. Lawmakers made clear they see the situation in Iran as fundamentally different from other recent U.S. military actions, such as the January raid in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.
“This is not the same situation as Venezuela,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “This is a country [Iran] with advanced weapons, the willingness to use them, and there’s no guarantee if we support regime change that what succeeds the ayatollah is going to be any better.”
Earlier this week, Shaheen noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently told the committee that there are around 40,000 Americans within firing range of Iran. “All of the experts that I’ve heard suggest that Iran is going to be much more robust in its response should America strike it again,” Shaheen added.
Democrats are perplexed at Trump’s mixed signals on Iran. Trump and other senior administration officials claimed last year that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” following U.S. air strikes. Yet these same officials are now saying Tehran is rapidly developing missiles capable of hitting the United States.
Many Democrats think Trump has failed to make any sort of credible case for military action.
“I don’t think the president has done a good job of making a case for using the military at the scale that you would need to not only get rid of their enrichment capability, but to replace the government,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said.
