Top Republican Wants More Details On Iran War If Ceasefire Ends

Sen. Deb Fischer — a top Republican on defense issues — said she wants the Trump administration to further explain its Iran war if a fragile ceasefire collapses.

“As this operation continues and changes in form, right now it's a cease fire, but if it changes, that is the time then that I would hope the administration would come to Congress and explain more as needed,” the Nebraska Republican said Tuesday during the POLITICO Security Summit.

Fischer is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services committee.

President Donald Trump called the month-old ceasefire with Iran “unbelievably weak” and on “massive life support” on Monday after U.S. and Iranian negotiators again failed to strike an agreement over the weekend.

And as the war drags on, patience on both sides of the aisle is wearing thin. The Senate is expected to vote on another Democratic-led war powers measure this week, and Republicans will once again need to hold the line to beat back the effort.

There are some signs that GOP unity has begun to fray. Sen. Susan Collins, (R-Maine), voted with Democrats last month to rein in the war. And other GOP senators have expressed reservations about the war’s future, now that the conflict has passed a 60-day war powers deadline that requires Congress to authorize continued military operations.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) plans to offer an authorization to continue the war, though it’s unlikely enough Republicans will join her to pass the measure.

The White House argues the current ceasefire satisfies the War Powers Resolution’s requirement that a conflict must end after 60 days unless it’s authorized by Congress.

Fischer declined to say whether she’d support Murkowski’s authorization, but said that Trump has “the authority under Article II to make decisions. I believe that he's met the requirements to Congress at this point in time.”

As Fischer defended the war, she also acknowledged the economic pain Americans are feeling as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted global energy supplies and driven up costs for transport and food.

“People worried about price increases. I hear from [agriculture] producers worried about fertilizer, and I hear from consumers worried about the price of gas. But I also believe that people have a deep understanding of the threat that this country faces if Iran becomes a nuclear nation that is capable of reaching the United States…. And I think the main thing that I try to say to Nebraskans and to Americans is we cannot have a nuclear Iran,” Fischer said.

Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.