{"id":2450612,"date":"2025-06-23T05:52:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T09:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graham-defends-trump-on-iran-cant-have-535-commander-in-chiefs-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T05:57:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T09:57:04","slug":"graham-defends-trump-on-iran-cant-have-535-commander-in-chiefs-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graham-defends-trump-on-iran-cant-have-535-commander-in-chiefs-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham defends Trump on Iran, \u2018can\u2019t have 535 commander-in-chiefs\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgraham-defends-trump-on-iran-cant-have-535-commander-in-chiefs-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2450612&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>in a recent interview on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet teh Press,&#8221; Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) defended President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to order airstrikes on Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities, asserting that Trump acted within his constitutional rights under Article II. Graham rejected criticisms from some members of Congress who argued that Trump should have sought congressional approval before taking such military action. He emphasized that the president is the commander-in-chief and cannot have 535 individuals in that role, referring to Congress as a collective body.<\/p>\n<p>Graham acknowledged that while Congress has the authority to declare war and control military funding, the president retains discretion over executing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/confirmed-chinese-troops-on-canadian-soil-during-military-exercises\/\" title=\"Confirmed: Chinese Troops on Canadian Soil During Military Exercises\">military operations<\/a>. He mentioned that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-worthy-recipient-pro-life-group-names-trump-pro-life-person-of-the-year\/\" title=\"\u201cA Worthy Recipient\u201d- Pro-Life Group Names ... Pro-Life \u201cPerson Of The Year\u201d\">previous presidents<\/a> have conducted similar strikes without legislative consent and justified Trump&#8217;s actions as necessary for national security, especially given the sensitive nature of the situation. He expressed confidence that troops would not be deployed to iran, suggesting that Israel would take a more aggressive stance against the iranian regime instead.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Graham defends Trump on Iran, &lsquo;can&rsquo;t have 535 commander-in-chiefs&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2154001\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, have cried foul over President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s ordered bombing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Iran&rsquo;s<\/a> nuclear facilities on Saturday. Critics of the military operation claim that Trump did not have the constitutional authority to order the bombings and that it was a violation of power. Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lindsey-graham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Lindsey Graham<\/a> (R-SC) argued to the contrary, specifically citing that Article II of the Constitution granted Trump the authority to do so.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Graham justified his decision Sunday in an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC&rsquo;s <em>Meet the<\/em> <em>Press<\/em>. She asked the Republican senator if he believed Trump should have received congressional authority before the bombing. Graham responded that Trump is in charge and that the country can&rsquo;t have &ldquo;535 commander-in-chiefs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3450511\/oklahoma-city-thunder-win-nba-championship\/\">Oklahoma City Thunder win the NBA Championship<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3450501\/christians-killed-isis-suicide-bombing-syria-church\/\">Christians killed in suspected ISIS suicide bombing at church in Syria<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3450483\/khamenei-no-mention-of-us-first-statement-after-strikes\/\">Khamenei makes no mention of US in first statement after strikes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;What do you say to your fellow members of Congress who say that President Trump should have gotten congressional approval before taking this action?&rdquo; Welker asked. &ldquo;Did the president violate the Constitution by acting unilaterally?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/embedded-video\/mmvo242052165541\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>    <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No, he was within his Article II authority,&rdquo; Graham <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/video\/sen-lindsey-graham-doesn-t-predict-u-s-boots-on-the-ground-in-iran-full-interview-242052165541\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">replied<\/a>. &ldquo;Congress can declare war or cut off funding. We can&rsquo;t be the commander in chief. You can&rsquo;t have 535 commander-in-chiefs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Graham then explained that Congress could vote to eliminate funding for the president&rsquo;s actions. However, it is the president&rsquo;s discretion to make such a decision. He also highlighted that other <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >presidents made similar decisions<\/a> regarding bombings and that when it comes to military actions, Congress is responsible for declaring war. Anyone arguing otherwise is &ldquo;wrong,&rdquo; according to Graham.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t like what the president does in terms of war, you can cut off the funding,&rdquo; Graham said. &ldquo;But declaring war is left to the Congress. We&rsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/my-former-friends-have-joined-the-fascists\/\" title=\"My Former Friends Have Joined the Fascists\">ve declared war<\/a> five times in the history of America. All of these other military operations were lawful. He had all the authority he needs under the Constitution. They are wrong.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Welker referenced previous military conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, when presidents sought congressional authority. Graham rationalized that those were different and referenced recent times in which the president authorized military strikes without asking for congressional authority.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Well, there&rsquo;s a lot of actions where the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-campaign-confirms-he-is-alive-but-only-a-scratchy-voice-recording-has-been-released-no-pictures\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s campaign confirms he is alive, but only a scratchy voice recording has been released, no pictures\">president didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t go to Congress,&rdquo; Graham told Welker. &ldquo;This was something that had to be done quietly. Last thing you want to do is come to Congress with an attack this sensitive.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3450270\/tim-kaine-predicts-war-resolution-will-get-republican-votes\/\"><strong>&#8203;&#8203;TIM KAINE PREDICTS WAR RESOLUTION WILL GET REPUBLICAN VOTES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Much of the concern over the U.S. launching strikes on Iran is that it will eventually lead to deploying troops to fight another war in the Middle East. When asked about &ldquo;boots on the ground,&rdquo; Graham dismissed such a thought and believed it wouldn&rsquo;t come to that. Instead, he predicted that Israel would no longer tolerate a rogue Iranian regime that is dedicated to its destruction. Rather than U.S. boots on the ground, Graham instead predicted a persistent Israel military offensive.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I see boots on the ground in our future, but I do see Israel not stopping,&rdquo; Graham said. &ldquo;Israel is not going to live this way anymore. They&rsquo;re not going to be subject to missile attack every day and every night, living in bunkers. They&rsquo;re going to go after the heart of this regime. They&rsquo;re going to take it down one of two ways: make it change or replace it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2154001\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2154001\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graham supports Trump on Iran, says &#8216;no 535 commanders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2450613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lindsey-graham-budget-1024x591.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3803,3823,3634],"class_list":["post-2450612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-graham","tag-iran","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lindsey-graham-budget-1024x591.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450612"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2450616,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450612\/revisions\/2450616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2450613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}