WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats Tuesday demanded clarity on an exit strategy for the Iran war. Republicans said their focus remains on what the military campaign would ultimately accomplish.
On Feb. 28, the U.S and Israel initiated strikes against Iran, killing the country’s Supreme Leader Ayotollah Ali Khamenei. On Monday, President Donald Trump held a press conference for the first time since the war began, pushing back against criticisms of the operation and suggesting the campaign was nearing an end.
“We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they’re pretty well complete,” he said from his golf resort in Doral, Fla. “We’ve wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely. Most of Iran’s naval powers have been sunk.”
The following day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth showed no indication that strikes against Iran would slow down. He told reporters at the Pentagon the U.S. was ramping up to make Tuesday the “most intense day” of American strikes against Iran since the start of the war. The Senate Armed Services Committee received a closed briefing on the Iranian military action Tuesday morning.
Amid mixed messaging from the Trump administration, Democrats are questioning the reasoning and timeline for the war, although many Republicans expressed support for Trump’s decision to engage.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said after leaving the briefing that she remains concerned the Trump administration has not explained why it entered the war without congressional approval, the military strategy behind the operation or its broader goals in the region.
“I’m very worried about how long this will drag on. We are hearing no logistical estimates about when it will be over,” Warren said. “This is not a war that’s supported by this country, and this is not a war that makes us safer.”
Republican lawmakers seemed less concerned about when the operation would end and expressed approval for the war. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said he has never been more impressed with a military operation than he is with Epic Fury, and argued the strikes were necessary because of Iran’s capability to develop nuclear weapons.
“We did this in the nick of time,” he said. “Thank god President Trump acted.”
In a video released on social media the morning after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in February, Trump said the country had continued to develop nuclear missiles that could “soon reach the American homeland.” He said the threat persisted after the United States first initiated strikes against three nuclear sites in June 2025.
A 2025 Defense Intelligence Agency assessment contradicted these claims, reporting that Iran is years away from the ability to produce long-range missiles.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., expressed little concern about the length of the war, describing the conflict as a “short-term phenomenon.” He said he expects the United States to leave the region soon.
Graham argued the timeline of the war matters less than its outcome.
“It’s not when it ends, it’s how it ends,” Graham said. “There’s no way you can say you won this war with an Ayatollah in charge.”
He said that a sustainable victory would require Iran’s future leaders to abandon the pursuit of nuclear weapons, which he believes could open the door to peace in the region.
Democrats, meanwhile, questioned Trump’s decision to launch strikes without congressional authorization. Senator Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M, said the president should have sought approval from Congress before initiating military action.
“When it comes to reducing costs in America, everything should be on the table,” Luján said.
“Make no mistake: When President Trump decided to go to war in Iran on his own and refused to ask his Republican colleagues in the House and the Senate to give him authorization for use of force, he really doesn’t care.”
Some Republicans have indicated they would support funding the war effort if additional resources are needed. Kennedy said lawmakers have not yet been asked to approve additional funding.
Democrats say they will put up a fight if asked to financially support the war. Warren said she’d be a “hard no” if asked to approve supplemental funding to continue the military campaign.
“The one thing Congress has the power to do is to stop actions like this through the power of the purse,” she said. “The military already has $1 trillion.”