AIPAC Is Influencing Trump’s War in Iran
Democrats are pushing a resolution to block Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran without congressional approval. But the effort is facing opposition from three lawmakers from their own party backed by the Israel lobby.
Three AIPAC-backed Democrats could determine whether Donald Trump must seek approval before escalating the war in Iran. (Cheriss May / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Democrats are pushing a resolution this week to block President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran without congressional approval. But standing in the party’s way are three of its own members, who have together received a combined $1.7 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the primary pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, which is backing Trump’s military onslaught.
Amid the United States and Israel’s unprovoked bombing campaign in Iran, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) are advocating for a vote on their resolution to block any further unauthorized military action in Iran by invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, which mandates congressional approval for the president to wage war. Congress is set to vote on the matter as early as Tuesday, but the effort faces opposition from three Democrats in the House.
Those lawmakers are bankrolled by the Israel lobby, a powerful advocate for US intervention in Iran. Democratic representative Greg Landsman (D-OH), who confirmed on Saturday that he will not vote for the war powers resolution, counts AIPAC as his top donor. The organization funneled more than $350,000 to Landsman’s campaign committees in the last election cycle, more than ten times the amount of money he received from any other donor, helping him secure a win in a historically competitive district.
Both Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said last week that they also planned to oppose the resolution, which was first proposed by Khanna and Massie in the wake of Israel and the United States’ twelve-day assault on Iran last June.
Gottheimer does not appear to have changed his position since the Trump administration launched so-called Operation Epic Fury, releasing a statement Saturday in support of the military campaign. Moskowitz has not yet said if he now plans to support the war powers effort.
Both Gottheimer and Moskowitz are hard-line supporters of Israel, and AIPAC is the top donor to both. The two received $787,000 and $312,000 from the organization, respectively, in the last election cycle, according to campaign finance data analyzed by Open Secrets, a research group that tracks money in politics.
The offices of Gottheimer, Moskowitz, and Landsman did not respond to requests for comment from the Lever.
The three votes could be decisive, given that the resolution requires a simple majority to pass, and Republicans hold a slim 218-214 majority in the House. At least one Republican besides Massie, the bill’s cosponsor, seems to be breaking from party lines in favor of the resolution: Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) said last week he would support the measure unless the Trump administration fully briefed Congress on its war plans. But Democrats would still need a united front — and additional Republican defectors — to pass the resolution in the House.
In the Senate, the war powers resolution could face a similar impasse. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a Senate version of the resolution with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in January. Here, too, there may be additional Republican backing, including from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who has floated his support for the measure.
The Senate resolution is opposed by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), another staunch supporter of Israel.
“One of Israel’s Greatest Friends”
Last year, lawmakers tried and failed to advance a war powers resolution after Israel’s surprise attack on Iran in June 2025. Shortly after Israel’s attacks, the United States bombed several of Iran’s nuclear facilities. At the time, AIPAC launched a lobbying blitz urging Democrats to support Israel.
The lobbying group — which in the 2024 election cycle spent tens of millions of dollars to get its preferred candidates into Congress — has been a vocal advocate for US intervention in Iran. Israel has for decades pushed for the United States to wage war on the Islamic Republic. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated Trump’s decision to do so shortly after the attacks began Saturday, calling him “one of Israel’s greatest friends in the White House of all time.”
Under pressure from the Israel lobby and facing Republican opposition, the June war powers resolution never reached the House floor for a vote. In the Senate, the resolution was struck down in a 53-47 vote, with Fetterman joining all Republicans except Paul to oppose the measure.
Last month, another war powers resolution aimed at stopping US intervention in Venezuela appeared to have a chance of clearing the Senate. Five Republicans initially voted to move the resolution forward, but two ultimately backed down under pressure from the Trump administration. The measure failed thanks to a tiebreaking vote from Vice President J. D. Vance.
Then, as the Pentagon undertook the largest US military buildup in the Middle East in decades before launching a new attack this past Saturday, some Democrats began renewing efforts to pass a war powers resolution, reviving the measures in both the House and Senate.
The current Iran war powers resolutions may come up for a vote in the Senate as soon as Tuesday.
Even if the measures pass one or both chambers of Congress — and somehow receive the two-thirds majority support they would need to survive a veto — whether they can stop Trump’s war is far more uncertain. The War Powers Act has long been criticized as lacking teeth — and has never been successfully deployed to block a president’s military campaign.
It could also face an opponent in the US Supreme Court. Both Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts have signaled that they believe the War Powers Act to be constitutional — and therefore that they believe the president has the unilateral right to wage war.