Chuck Schumer Urges Trump to Declassify War Powers Notification Letter on Iran Strike

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-NJ) called on President Donald Trump Monday to declassify the administration’s notification of hostilities against Iran.

The Senate Democrats said the Trump administration must share information with Congress regarding their targeting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani. The Democrats also said there was no legitimate reason to classify the letter to Congress.

Sens. Schumer and Menendez wrote in their letter to President Trump:

We write to request and urge you to immediately declassify in full the January 4, 2020 war powers notification you submitted to Congress following the U.S. military operation targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.

It is critical that national security matters of such import be shared with the American people in a timely manner. An entirely classified notification is simply not appropriate in a democratic society, and there appears to be no legitimate justification for classifying this notification.

President Trump has resisted calls to inform Congress of his plans to attack Iranian targets.

Trump tweeted Sunday, “These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!”

These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020

The Senate Democrats’ letter to President Trump follows as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote a letter to Democrat colleagues, revealing that they will push for a War Powers Act resolution to limit President Trump’s military capabilities with Iran.

The War Powers Act resolution will be introduced and voted on this week.

Speaker Pelosi wrote in her letter the War Powers Act resolution “reasserts Congress’s long-established oversight responsibilities by mandating that if no further Congressional action is taken, the Administration’s military hostilities with regard to Iran cease within 30 days.”