Republican lawmakers spent the past week trying to defend their refusal to give congressional approval for President Donald Trump's poorly planned and ill-conceived war in Iran, insisting that it’s merely a "conflict" that doesn't require a vote—or a spine.
It is painfully obvious that the Trump administration's extended bombing campaign—which may even lead to boots on the ground—to effect regime change in an adversarial country is a war.
Hell, Trump himself even called it a war when he brushed off the deaths of U.S. soldiers as something "that often happens in war."
But because a war would require congressional authorization, GOP lawmakers have twisted themselves into knots to explain why Trump can do whatever he wants in the Middle East—even though the public doesn't support it and it is already destroying the economy.
Indeed, both House and Senate Republicans blocked bills that would have curtailed Trump's war powers this week.
Take a gander at what the likely future Homeland Security secretary and current contender for dumbest U.S. senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said on Tuesday:
Reporter: You'll concede this is war?Mullin: We haven't declared war. They declared war on us
Reporter: The president called it war and Secretary Hegseth called it war
Another reporter: When you walked up just now, you called it war
Mullin: Okay. That was a misspoke.
RAJU: You'll concede this is war?MARKWAYNE MULLIN: We haven't declared war. They declared war on usRAJU: The president called it war and Secretary Hegseth called it war REPORTER: When you walked up just now, you called it warMULLIN: Okay. That was a misspoke.
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 3, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Fellow moronic Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama also walked into the same trap.
“This is not your Democrat war. This is President Trump’s war, and he’s not going in to be politically correct. He’s going in to protect, first of all, Americans first and then our allies and the people around the world,” he told NewsNation Monday.
Tuberville: "This is not your Democrat war. This is President Trump's war. And he's not going in to be politically correct."
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 2, 2026 at 10:29 PM
But when CNN later asked why such a war wouldn't need congressional authorization, Tuberville tried to backtrack.
“I wouldn’t call this a war as much as I’d call it conflict that should be very short and sweet, if you can put it that way," he told CNN’s Manu Raju Wednesday.
Similarly, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida also performed some mental gymnastics to defend Trump’s war, saying that it's not a war because there are no "boots on the ground."
"Strategic strikes are not war," she said on MS NOW.
And the virulently racist Rep. Randy Fine of Florida had the excellent argument that Trump’s war isn’t a war because Congress didn’t say so.
“It’s not a war,” he told The New York Times. “The way you are officially at war is Congress declares war, and we haven’t declared war.”
Anna Paulina Luna: “It is not the intention of the U.S. Government to invade…Targeted strategic military strikes and invasions are two totally different things.”@crampell.bsky.social: “They’re calling it a war. The President called it a war.”Luna: “Strategic strikes are not war.”
[image or embed]
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) March 1, 2026 at 8:38 PM
That’s not how definitions work, Randy.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ken Calvert of California said that the war in Iran couldn’t possibly be a war because it hasn’t gone on long enough.
“This has been about 72 hours,” he told the Times. “I would call it an operation at this point.”
Of course, length of time is not what defines a war either.House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) also tried to thread the same needle, saying that whether it's a war or a conflict is "semantics."
“We’re not at war right now,” Johnson said during a news conference, describing the actions as defensive.
“We’re four days into a very specific, clear mission—Operation Epic Fury,” he added.\
Johnson: “We're not at war right now.”
[image or embed]
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) March 4, 2026 at 10:41 AM
If by “clear” he means not at all clear and by “mission” he means totally conflicting objectives, then sure.
Even MAGA loyalists have slammed GOP leaders for their spinelessness.
“It’s not a war unless it comes from the war region of France, otherwise’s [sic] it’s just sparkling combat,” The Federalist co-founder and CEO Sean Davis wrote on X, mocking Johnson’s sorry attempt to explain away the war.
Ultimately, Republicans will do anything to let their Dear Leader get his way—even light the Constitution on fire to let Trump wage a war they didn't authorize.
When the country is a smoldering heap of ashes by November as gas prices surge, inflation spikes, and the economy craters, good luck defending this “conflict” to voters.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
- What No Patriot Would Ever Do ›
- Not Too Soon To Ask How We Can Repair Trump's Wreckage ›
- Senate Enrages Trump With Vote To Restrain Military Force In Venezuela ›
Start your day with National Memo Newsletter
Know first.
The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning
