Sen. Van Hollen: Iran war is illegal and we cannot fund another dime
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- Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called the Iran war illegal in a Responsible Statecraft podcast and urged Congress to withhold the administration's roughly $70 billion supplemental funding request, arguing that appropriating it would retroactively approve an unlawful conflict.
- The War Powers Act of 1973 is 'very damaged,' Van Hollen said, asserting that Trump has 'shredded its provisions' with the complicity of Senate Republicans after a June War Powers concurrent resolution directed the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities.
- The administration is claiming the Iran ceasefire reset the 60-day withdrawal clock to avoid compliance with Congress's resolution, a legal maneuver Van Hollen rejects given that 18 U.S. service members have been lost in the conflict.
- Van Hollen drew a sharp line between the Iran conflict and the 2011 Libya intervention, which he voted for, calling Libya a 'gray area' backed by UN, NATO, and Arab League support, while characterizing the Iran war's legal justification as 'plainly frivolous.'
- The Democratic caucus has grown more willing to condition aid to Israel, with Van Hollen noting that votes to block weapons and bulldozers rose from about 17 in March–April 2025 — during an 80-day full blockade — to 40 Democrats in a more recent vote.
- AIPAC is the 'number one driver' of Congress's reluctance to condition Israel aid, Van Hollen said, citing the group's $30 million spending against Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan's Senate race as evidence of its willingness to 'defeat any candidate that doesn't support unconditional aid.'
- Van Hollen called for conditioning any offensive weapons to Israel on an agreed-upon timetable for withdrawal from the West Bank occupation, arguing that the current blank check 'undermines our security in the region and our position around the world.'
Why it matters: Van Hollen's dual front — blocking the $70 billion Iran war supplemental and expanding the Senate coalition to condition Israel aid — tests whether congressional Democrats can translate growing internal pressure into actual spending restrictions before the supplemental comes to a vote.
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