Members of Congress in both parties welcomed President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday night of ceasefire between the United States and Iran, but Democrats continued to raise grave questions about the path forward after weeks of war without congressional authorization.

“I’m glad Trump backed off his threat to wipe out a whole civilization and is searching for an off-ramp from his ridiculous bluster,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement late Tuesday.

Republican leaders, who have proceeded with a two-week congressional recess despite the war and a partial government shutdown, were mostly mum on Trump’s abrupt de-escalation, as they were about a social media post Tuesday morning in which he had threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not accede to his demands by nightfall.

House Speaker Mike Johnson reposted the president’s social media message announcing the ceasefire Tuesday night without commenting on it.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the most outspoken supporters of the war effort, praised the diplomatic agreement, though he also appeared to lay out conditions for a U.S. withdrawal.

“Every ounce of the approximately 900 lbs. of highly enriched uranium has to be controlled by the U.S. and removed from Iran to prevent them in the future from having a dirty bomb or returning to the enrichment business,” he said in a social media post. “Like everyone, I hope we can end the reign of terror of the Iranian regime through diplomacy.”

Democrats, however, raised concerns about what would happen next.

“De-escalation is a long-overdue step after over a month of war without a clear purpose and with mounting costs for the American people,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.

“I remain deeply concerned that U.S. actions may have incentivized Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon,” she added. “None of this makes Americans safer or our people better off.”

Other Democrats were sharply critical.

“This statement changes nothing,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “The president has threatened a genocide against the Iranian people and is continuing to leverage that threat. He has launched a massive war of enormous risk and of catastrophic consequence without reason, rationale, nor congressional authorization — which is as clear a violation of the Constitution as any.”

Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had been among the only Republicans in the Senate to criticize the president’s threat of wiping out Iranian civilization before the ceasefire. A handful more in the House raised concerns about the possibility that the United States would carry out escalating strikes against civilian infrastructure targets.

But after Trump’s announcement, more GOP lawmakers surfaced to cheer the turnabout.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., called it an example of Trump’s “peace through strength” approach.

“I’m grateful for President Trump’s unwavering dedication to defending our country and holding our adversaries accountable,” Cramer said.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said the ceasefire announcement was “a strong first step toward holding Iran accountable” and presented leaders in Tehran, its capital, with a chance to “do the right thing.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Robert Jimison/Tierney L. Cross
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