In a press call Thursday, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin called the U.S. war with Iran “yet another broken promise from this president who pledged to end foreign conflicts, not start them.”
“President Trump may have forgotten the lessons we learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Wisconsinites have not,” Baldwin told reporters. “They remember the cost of war started without good reasons and without a plan to get us out.”
Objecting to the fact that Congress, which has the power to declare war, was not consulted before the Trump administration began bombing, Baldwin added, “This is a war of choice. But it shouldn’t be the president’s choice.”
The Trump administration, she said, has offered multiple, conflicting reasons for starting the war, which as of Thursday had so far claimed the lives of seven U.S. service members and injured 140 others, as well as leading to the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians, including 175 students and teachers at a girls’ school.
“All signs point to this president getting us into this war haphazardly, and it’s deeply concerning because it’s Wisconsinites who are going to pay the price,” Baldwin said. “Wisconsinites need some answers. They should know why this administration is spending billions of dollars on a war with Iran instead of investing in our schools or lowering the cost of groceries, health care or rent.”
She pledged to use her leverage as a U.S. Senator to demand public hearings at which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other members of the administration would answer questions about the rationale for the war and plans to bring it to an end, and said she had not yet heard back from Senate Majority Leader John Thune about holding such a hearing.
Baldwin has also signed onto a war powers resolution with five Senate colleagues aimed at blocking further U.S. military action without congressional approval.
“If Leader Thune refuses to hold public hearings and the Trump administration continues to hide in darkness, I’m prepared to force every single senator to go on record and tell the American people whether or not they support another endless foreign war,” she said.
