Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told members of Congress that the Trump administration has the legal and constitutional authority to attack Iran if it threatens America's interests or allies, according to a Democratic lawmaker.
Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a former acting assistant secretary of defense during the last two years of the Obama administration, made the stunning revelation just before 3 o'clock in the morning as House Armed Services Committee members jousted over a Pentagon funding bill.
Democrats on the committee want to insert a line in the bill that explicitly forbids using the post-9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force -- which Congress approved so President George W. Bush could attack Iraq -- as justification for doing the same thing to Iran.
Slotkin and Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative Trump ally, said an administration official told them they could lean on that resolution, which Congress never rescinded, to keep Tehran in line.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a group of House members that President Donald Trump has the authority to attack Iran, according to a pair of lawmakers
Rep Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, made the revelation in the week hours of Thursday morning during a marathon hearing to debate amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act
Lawmakers are concerned that Trump will use the authority granted to President George W. Bush as justification to attack Iran as tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran
'We were absolutely presented with a full formal presentation on how the 2001 AUMF might authorize war on Iran,' Slotkin declared.
'Secretary Pompeo said it with his own words,' she insisted as senior Republicans objected.
'He did not say "I want to go to Iran and I'm going to use 2001",' she cautioned. 'He referenced – I don't want to go into the details – he referenced a relationship between Iran and al-Qaeda.'
Slotkin later characterized Pompeo's presentation as an effort to get congressional buy-in for what the State Department already believes is the case.
'Once he opened that door he asked for an answer,' she said.
Still, members from both parties dithered on whether to insert the language forbidding an attack on Iran based on a 28-year-old green light targeting a different country.
'If it's a messaging thing that people are concerned about,' Slotkin said, 'maybe they can vote for nothing.'
