Trump aides weighed Iran, Yemen at Camp David as Congress stays out
Vice President JD Vance led a closed-door Camp David meeting Saturday with top security aides on the Iran war and fighting in Yemen. No decisions were announced. Congress is away until after the midterms, and the Senate rejected a bid to limit Trump's war powers last month by one vote.
President Trump's top national security team met quietly at Camp David on Saturday to talk about the war with Iran and the widening fight in Yemen, Axios first reported. Vice President JD Vance chaired the session. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended, according to Axios and the Jerusalem Post.
The White House did not announce the meeting or release any decisions. It came a day before Yemen's government launched a campaign to retake all Houthi-held territory and while Iran was reviewing a U.S. reply passed through Qatar.
A Washington Examiner op-ed, headlined as Trump's real October surprise, argued that his latest "two weeks" deadline for Iran lasted only two days.
On Capitol Hill, the debate over who decides is stalled. In July, the House passed a resolution, H.Con.Res. 89, by 214 to 208 to direct the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran unless Congress authorizes them. On Sept. 24, the Senate rejected a similar measure 49 to 50, Reuters and The Washington Post reported. Now Congress has left town until after the Nov. 3 election. The Senate is not due back until Nov. 9.
Here is the background. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, but presidents of both parties have launched military action without a declaration. The War Powers Resolution of 1973, passed after Vietnam, requires the president to notify Congress and limits how long forces can fight without approval. Lawmakers have rarely been able to enforce it, because a president can veto their limits.
The war began in late February with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Since then, attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel.
What we know: Top aides met at Camp David, and Congress has not limited the war.
What we don't: What, if anything, was decided, and when Trump will act on it.
Where outlets agree Axios and the Jerusalem Post both report that Vance chaired a Camp David meeting on Iran and Yemen on Oct. 3 with Rubio, Hegseth, Witkoff, Ratcliffe and Caine.
Where they differ Supporters of the president say he needs a free hand to pressure Iran, while lawmakers who backed the war-powers measures say Congress must approve a longer war.