Republicans leaders in Congress praised Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., reacts to reporters after Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids that have led to protests in California and elsewhere, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
U. S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican who was briefed by the White House ahead of the strike, said in a statement, “President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated … That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Iranian regime’s “misguided pursuit of nuclear weapons must be stopped.”
U.S. Linsdey Graham, a longtime Iran hawk and Republican from South Carolina, wrote online: “This was the right call. The regime deserves it.”
Meanwhile, elected Democrats and some far-right Republicans questioned the move, particularly without authorization from the U.S. Congress.
“Horrible judgment,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”
Said conservative Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, “While President Trump’s decision may prove just, it’s hard to conceive a rationale that’s Constitutional.”
