GOP Sen. Mike Lee furious after an 'insulting' Senate briefing on Trump's Iran strike: 'The worst briefing on a military issue I've seen in 9 years'
- Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was furious on Wednesday after a Senate briefing on President Donald Trump's decision to order an airstrike that killed Iran's Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
- Lee called it "probably the worst briefing on a military issue I've seen in nine years I've been here."
- He said he "walked into that briefing undecided" on whether to support a War Powers Resolution being pushed by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. The resolution would limit the Trump administration's ability to take further military action against Iran without congressional authorization.
- "That briefing is what changed my mind," Lee said. "I'm now going to support it."
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Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was furious on Wednesday following a Senate briefing on President Donald Trump's decision to order an airstrike that killed Iran's Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, bringing tensions with Iran to a boiling point.
Lee told reporters that he "walked into that briefing undecided" on whether to support a War Powers Resolution being pushed by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. The resolution would limit the Trump administration's ability to take further military action against Iran without congressional authorization.
"That briefing is what changed my mind," Lee said. "I'm now going to support it."
He went on to call the briefing "probably the worst briefing, at least on a military issue, I've seen in nine years I've been here."
"I find it insulting, I find it demeaning" to the Senate and the Constitution, the senator added. "It's un-American, it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong," he said, after noting that the people who briefed senators on Trump's strike said senators could not debate the merits of the measure.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who stood alongside Lee as they addressed reporters, said he will also support a War Powers Resolution to block further action against Iran.
"Today, this is Senator Lee and I saying we are not abdicating our duty."