{"id":72068,"date":"2026-04-18T04:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/dems-sidestep-past-refuse-illegal-orders-demands-as-they-challenge-trumps-iran-war-authority\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T04:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:57:14","slug":"dems-sidestep-past-refuse-illegal-orders-demands-as-they-challenge-trumps-iran-war-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/dems-sidestep-past-refuse-illegal-orders-demands-as-they-challenge-trumps-iran-war-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"Dems sidestep past \u2018refuse illegal orders\u2019 demands as they challenge Trump\u2019s Iran war authority"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid ongoing hostilities with Iran, Democrats brushed off past calls from some figures in their party for U.S. armed forces to “refuse illegal orders,” even as they broadly maintained that President Donald Trump’s<\/a> use of the military is on shaky footing without lawmaker approval.<\/p>\n

“The troops are in no way to blame for this illegal war. Responsibility lies solely and simply with the president,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said.<\/p>\n

“We support the troops always. They\u2019re following orders,” Rep. Daren Soto, D-Fla., said. “This is about a debate of whether we should be there or not.”<\/p>\n

The comments come just months after six members of Congress with military backgrounds urged service members to disregard<\/a> unconstitutional directives.<\/p>\n

GOP BLOCKS BOOKER-LED PUSH TO CURB TRUMP’S MILITARY AUTHORITY IN IRAN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“You must refuse illegal orders,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said. “Don\u2019t give up the ship.”<\/p>\n

The six lawmakers included: Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly,<\/a> D-Ariz., Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.<\/p>\n

The lawmakers did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital\u2019s requests for comment when asked about what those calls meant in the context of the conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n

ONE MONTH AT WAR WITH IRAN \u2014 CAN WASHINGTON\u00a0DEFINE VICTORY?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Efforts to pass a war powers resolution<\/a> that<\/a> would curb Trump\u2019s military powers in Iran have failed amid a steep partisan divide over whether the president\u2019s actions fall within what the Constitution permits without congressional approval.<\/p>\n

A war power resolution that would have forced Trump to remove U.S. forces from Iran failed in the House of Representatives<\/a> in a 213-214 vote on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Democrats, citing the War Powers Act of 1973, note that the law requires a president to secure approval from lawmakers before engaging in a conflict that goes past 60 days.<\/p>\n

FETTERMAN BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS, SAYS TRUMP’S MILITARY STRIKES ON IRAN HAVE ‘MADE THE WORLD SAFER’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“The president says it\u2019s an \u2018excursion\u2019 which it\u2019s not,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., said. “We have to call it for what it is. It is a war.”<\/p>\n

Republicans and other advocates for the conflict have noted the war with Iran hasn\u2019t hit that mark yet.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Fetterman<\/a>, D-Pa., joined Republicans in rebuffing challenges to the president\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n

DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT TO FORCE PUBLIC IRAN HEARINGS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve been the only Democrat who has supported Epic Fury,” Fetterman said, referring to the Iran conflict\u2019s operational name.<\/p>\n

“And now we\u2019re 48 days into this. None of this has been illegal,” he added.<\/p>\n

Even so, Democrats have blasted the president for dragging the country into a conflict that they say is far from a meaningful resolution.<\/p>\n

Blumenthal called on the administration to provide lawmakers with more information about a possible timeline for resolution and more details about the conflict’s status.<\/p>\n

“One of the complaints \u2014 and it’s bipartisan \u2014 we don\u2019t have any accurate information about how the blockade is going, what the costs of the war<\/a> are, even in a classified setting,” Blumenthal said.<\/p>\n

Although Trump has said U.S. and Iran talks are working towards ending the conflict for good, it remains unclear if ceasefire talks will render a permanent cessation of hostilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid ongoing hostilities with Iran, Democrats brushed off past calls from some figures in their party for U.S. armed forces to “refuse illegal orders,” even as they broadly maintained that President Donald Trump’s use of the military is on shaky footing without lawmaker approval. “The troops are in no way to blame for this illegal … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}