Reporter's Notebook: Congressional Republicans stand by Trump on Iran military action despite campaign promise
Sir Isaac Newton postulated that for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. It’s Newton’s Third Law of Motion and one of the most important rules in...
By Fox News · Fox News
Sir Isaac Newton postulated that for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. It’s Newton’s Third Law of Motion and one of the most important rules in all of science. And Newtonian physics can tell you a great deal about reactions in politics. We don’t yet know the dimension or the impact of the war in Iran. But there will be a political reaction of great importance as we head toward the midterms. It’s just too early to understand how the war will go, what unexpected twists it may take and how its consequences might reverberate through the midterms . BIPARTISAN REVOLT TARGETS TRUMP'S WAR POWERS AFTER MASSIVE IRAN STRIKES How things unfold is unclear. But an event of this breadth and proportion always poses some political impact. And the war may chart the course for the midterms. Let’s start with President Trump’s campaign promises that he was "America First" and would keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts. Well, that’s out the window. And there’s already some friction with the MAGA base. They may bolt if they believe the President reneged on one of his key campaign promises. But so far, most congressional Republicans are standing beside the president. A handful of congressional Republicans — including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio — agree with Democrats and assert that Trump must come to Congress before sending troops into harm’s way. Not to downplay this, but it’s almost a "technical" argument. Yes, there are important questions about the Constitution, war powers and who has the right to "declare war." But the war powers debate probably doesn’t resonate with a lot of voters. However, the decision to go to war when the president promised otherwise could pose potential problems for the president and congressional Republicans this fall. Voters who feel betrayed by the president could just stay home. Especially since it appears to fly in the face of the president’s campaign promise against starting wars. Then there’s the…