Amid reports that Vice President JD Vance is very seriously questioning the White House's Iran War narrative along with the Pentagon's rosy and overly positive updates on how things are going, over in Congress there's growing alarm as Trump's Operation Epic Fury is set to hit the 60-day mark on Friday.
Republicans no doubt want to wrap things up fast, however, the latest reports say the White House is preparing for an extended Hormuz blockade of at least 'months' longer, per fresh WSJ reporting. There now appears to be a significant shift among Republicans underway, given that the 1973 War Powers Resolution requires that a US president must terminate unauthorized military operations within 60 days of initiating them.
Congress must then certify a need for continued military force in the instance that the nation faces an imminent threat. Already several war power initiatives have been effectively blocked on the House and Senate sides.
But amid the ongoing Hormuz Strait blockade, Americans - and thus their representatives in Congress, are increasingly wary of the coming economic blowback. As we featured earlier on Wednesday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline hit its highest level in four years on Tuesday as the cost of a barrel of oil remains elevated amid Trump's war of choice in the Middle East.
This has triggered talk among GOP leaders of the need to go ahead and vote on formal war authorization, even among the hawks. Below is a quick round-up of Congressional member quotes via Semafor:
Sen. Curtis: "It’s a big deal… There are a number of us having discussions about what that day means, what our response should be."
Sen. Collins: "Sixty days is a trigger that requires Congress to act."
Rep. Don Bacon: "We haven’t been doing combat over the last two weeks. I think it merits good discussion. In the end, I want us to finish the job."
Sen. Hawley: Rubio’s "been pretty careful to comply with the statute. My hope is they’ll notify us that they’re drawing down offensive operations."
Sen. Murkowski: "You’ve got to talk to us.” She warned that if that doesn’t happen, “you may see a change in the situation” in Congress.
Sen. Tillis: “This is going to be weeks or months away from resolution, and more likely the latter. So why not send a very clear signal to Iran" and authorize war for a 1 year?
And an unnamed GOP Senator is cited in the report as saying: "People cross some sort of threshold and start to be very uncomfortable with it. I am sensing restlessness among many of my colleagues."
The White House has been steadily hailing the "successful" US naval blockade of Iranian reports. Still, as Reuters spells out Tuesday, "High oil prices are a risk for Trump's fellow Republicans ahead of the midterm congressional elections in November." Brent crude hit briefly reached $119/barrel on Wednesday amid signs of escalation, poised to overtake prior Iran war highs.