Let's talk about Trump running out of time while the Senate runs out of patience.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump running out of time while the Senate runs out of patience.

As if Trump didn't have enough problems with his ever spiraling and increasingly unpopular move on Iran that has not produced the results he expected, he's running into new problems. Republicans in the Senate have so far resisted attempts to curtail Trump's conflict. It seems like they're hoping against hope that somehow Trump can pull something out of this. He and the Republican party can claim his victory.

So far, all the elective war has done is replace a few figures in the government with people who are normally more hardline, turned the protester movement that might have started a civil war and was supportive of the US against it, and increase Iran's strategic value while simultaneously turning our allies even more against us.

Even Senate Majority Leader Thune, who has helped to stop war powers resolutions and allowed Trump to keep is war going, has said the military needs a “plan for how to wind this down. How to get an outcome.”

Senator, oh sweet child of mine. The military doesn't get to do that. They're tools of policy. You're the policy maker. Sometimes Congress gets so tense, but they can't speed up the time. But, you know, there's one more thing to consider.

Soon, Trump's 60-day window for unilateral action comes to a close, and congressional Republicans, who have so far been completely shirking their constitutional responsibilities, will be forced to act or admit this was a horrible idea and wind it down themselves.

At the end of the 60-day window, Congress needs to either pass an authorization for the use of military force, which is what passes for a declaration of war these days, or Trump has 30 days to wind down his war. The Senate knows that if they don't give Trump a war authorization, that it's an admission that Trump made a huge error and the mission failed.

See, Iran knows US law as well. They know that if the Senate doesn't authorize the war, Trump has to wind it down. It's so easy. They'll simply wait Trump out. This is the same mistake Trump made when trying to negotiate a deal in Afghanistan and he provided a timeline. That timeline gave the opposition there what they needed to recalibrate and be ready to take over the moment of US withdrawal.

Senate Republicans have been willing to block the war powers resolutions but may not be quite as willing to vote for another forever war, even though Senator Murkowski of Alaska has already started drafting a formal authorization, especially with Trump's falling poll numbers and declining power.

Republicans are already complaining about Democrats constantly pushing for war powers resolutions with one saying, "It's just exhausting." Yeah, I'm sure those votes are super hard and exhausting. Imagine how exhausting it is for those deployed or those under fire?

Republicans will soon face a choice. Plunge the nation into another forever war that even now has the murkiest of justifications at a point where the majority of Americans already disapprove of the war or they have to signal that Trump was wrong.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.