We’ve seen a lot of sad political stunts in our time, friends, but what Democrats pulled on Thursday morning in the United States House of Representatives might be the most pathetically desperate maneuver since they tried to impeach a president for making a phone call. While the rest of Congress was home on spring recess doing normal human things like grilling steaks and avoiding their constituents, House Democrats schemed up a plan to sneak a war powers resolution through the House floor during a pro forma session — one of those procedural formalities where a single member gavels in, stares at an empty chamber, and gavels out in roughly the time it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket.
Imagine being Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland, standing at the podium of an empty House chamber at 11:30 on a Thursday morning, demanding “unanimous consent” to strip the Commander-in-Chief’s war powers while literally nobody is there to hear you. It’s like challenging someone to a duel and showing up to find out your opponent went to Cancún. Actually, that’s not fair — at least Ted Cruz brought back good stories.
Here’s what happened. The House is on a two-week recess. Votes aren’t scheduled until April 14th. But Democrats, led by Hakeem Jeffries and his merry band of constitutional scholars who only discovered the War Powers Act exists when Donald Trump got into power, decided that the Iran ceasefire was their moment. President Trump had just secured a two-week ceasefire with Iran — you know, the ceasefire that sent the Dow screaming up 1,300 points and made oil prices drop like a rock off a cliff. The ceasefire that every rational human being on earth was celebrating.
And Democrats looked at all of that and said, “We need to stop this man immediately.”
Let me be very clear about the timeline here because it’s important for understanding just how disconnected from reality these politicians are. On Monday night, President Trump told Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if they didn’t come to the table. Democrats called him “completely unhinged.” By Tuesday evening, Iran blinked and agreed to a ceasefire. Global markets exploded upward. Asian stocks surged nearly 7%. The S&P 500 jumped 2.5%. The Nasdaq popped 3.5%. Oil prices cratered. And American families who’d been staring at $4-a-gallon gas for weeks could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So naturally, Democrats decided Thursday was the perfect time to try to take away the very authority that made all of that possible.
Their argument, such as it is, goes something like this: Trump is dangerous, Trump is reckless, Trump threatened to destroy a civilization, therefore Congress needs to assert its war powers authority. Never mind that the threat worked. Never mind that Iran folded. Never mind that the ceasefire is holding and ships are moving through the Strait again. Democrats would rather have been right about Trump being wrong than have the country actually win.
And let’s talk about the mechanics of their brilliant plan. A pro forma session requires unanimous consent to conduct any real business. That means a single Republican objection kills it dead. Which is exactly what happened. The whole thing lasted about as long as a TikTok video and was roughly as consequential. Speaker Johnson’s office didn’t even bother issuing a formal response — they just let the procedural reality do the talking.
But here’s what really gets me. These are the same Democrats who spent three weeks accusing Trump of being a warmonger, demanding he pursue diplomacy, screaming about civilian casualties, and calling for his removal under the 25th Amendment. Trump then secured a diplomatic ceasefire without firing another shot, and their response is… to try to hamstring his ability to negotiate from a position of strength?
This is what happens when a political party has no strategy beyond “Trump bad.” They can’t celebrate the ceasefire because Trump got it. They can’t criticize the ceasefire because it’s objectively good. So they’re stuck in this weird middle ground where they’re simultaneously saying the war was wrong AND trying to make sure Trump can’t threaten consequences if Iran breaks the deal.
You know what Iran would love more than anything right now? A United States Congress that officially tells the world our president can’t back up his words with action. That’s literally what the war powers resolution would do. It would be like playing poker and having your buddy announce to the table that you’re bluffing. Thanks, Hakeem. Real patriotic stuff.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the ceasefire is working. Tankers are moving through Hormuz. Markets are recovering. Oil prices are falling. And the American military remains positioned to ensure Iran keeps its word — which is exactly how deterrence is supposed to work.
But sure, Democrats. Keep holding press conferences in empty rooms. Keep demanding votes that can’t happen. Keep telling the American people that the guy who just ended a war in two weeks is the real threat to peace. We’ll be over here, watching our 401(k)s recover, filling up our gas tanks at prices that don’t require a second mortgage, and remembering exactly who made it happen.
The pro forma session is over. The stunt failed. And somewhere in Tehran, the mullahs are shaking their heads and thinking, “At least those Democrats tried.”
That’s the most honest campaign contribution the Democratic Party has made in years.
