Trump critic Massie joins Democrats in unprecedented bid to sue White House over Iran war

A lone House Republican is joining Democrats in an effort to get President Donald Trump sued over the Iran war.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is one of the co-sponsors of a new resolution aimed at compelling House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to sue the Trump administration over allegations the president is violating federal law with the U.S. conflict in the Middle East.

The bill is also being led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Gabe Amo, D-R.I., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

Massie accused Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth of being "in blatant violation of two sections of the War Powers Resolution of 1973."

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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is part of a new push to fight back against President Donald Trump's war in Iran. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"For the first time since the law was enacted, a concurrent resolution has passed in accordance with 5(c) of the law, but the White House has ignored it. It seems they’ve assumed the law is unconstitutional, but no court has ever found that to be the case, so the law remains on the books while the White House flouts it. In the 1983 case INS v. Chadha, the Supreme Court did not opine on the 1973 War Powers Resolution. It’s time for the courts to settle this, and that’s what our legislation directs," Massie said.

"They’ve also violated section 5(b) of the law, but rather than ignore the law, they’ve perpetuated a ruse that the 60-day limit on Presidential military activity does not apply with respect to the Iran war, because each time they effect a temporary ceasefire, the statutory clock restarts. We believe no court would agree with this absurdity, and this should be litigated as well."

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Massie was one of four House Republicans who voted with Democrats to rebuke Trump over the Iran war with a war powers resolution that passed last week. The resolution is largely symbolic, however, and has no practical effect.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., during a roundtable discussion with the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

His open criticism of Trump also earned Massie a primary challenger backed by the president, who wound up defeating the sitting congressman and will likely take his place in the House of Representatives next year.

But the new resolution to sue Trump over the Iran war is not likely to get a full House vote unless Massie or Democrats use maneuvers to force it over the objections of House GOP leaders.

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In his comments to Fox News Digital, Massie also criticized congressional leadership for not doing more to block the war.

"Unfortunately, Speaker Johnson has chosen to let the power of our institution atrophy and is doing harm to our constitutional authority by his inaction motivated by political expediency," Massie said. "Although both Iraq wars and the war in Afghanistan were authorized by AUMFs [Authorization for Use of Military Force] from Congress, the Trump administration has sought no such Congressional authorization for the war in Iran, and is therefore operating unconstitutionally."

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Johnson, for his part, told reporters last week that he did not believe an AUMF was necessary but suggested he wanted to see an end to the war.

"The administration is working very hard. The commander in chief and the whole Department of War, they're working very hard to bring this to a resolution. There's a lot of discussions about how that will be done," Johnson told reporters Tuesday. "We're all closely watching those developments. Of course, I don't think an AUMF is in order right now. I think we need to bring this to a resolution."

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in response to the resolution, "Politicians in the United States and around the world have been talking about the danger posed by a nuclear Iran for decades. Only President Trump, however, has possessed the courage to take this national security threat head-on. The administration has been fully transparent with Congress over the course of this conflict and throughout negotiations, and senior officials have provided over 30 bipartisan briefings to the Hill since late February."