‘There was no imminent threat,’ Thomas Massie says in joining Ro Khanna in decrying Iran strike

Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — two lawmakers with very different views and priorities on most issues — came together Sunday to decry President Donald Trump's airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Khanna and Massie told host Margaret Brennan on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Congress was not briefed ahead of the military action, which they see as unconstitutional. The pair introduced a resolution last week to block U.S. involvement in the conflict between Iran and Israel.

"I'm always open to new intelligence, but the procedure should have been Congress be briefed before we decided to enter war and actually have a vote on it," Khanna said to Brennan. "The reality is, people want regime change in Iran, and they are egging this president on to bomb. I hope cooler heads will prevail."

House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X Saturday that the president "fully respects" Article I of the Constitution, and the targeted strike follows "the history and tradition" of prior military actions. Massie said Johnson's latter remark was likely referring to the War Powers Act of 1973, which allows for a president to take limited, targeted actions in a crisis without prior congressional approval, but that it was "peculiar" to hear this from the Speaker of the House.

"That's been misinterpreted. There was no imminent threat to the United States which is what would authorize that," Massie said. "We haven't been briefed, they should have called us all back, and frankly we should have debated this war powers resolution that Ro Khanna and I offered instead of staying on vacation."

Khanna said Massie was showing "courage" in speaking for parts of the MAGA base who have continually reiterated they do not want continuing wars in the Middle East. After Trump announced the airstrikes, MAGA largely fell in line with the action despite debates last week over the potential for U.S. military action in Iran amid continuing Israel-Iran missile exchanges.

"The tragedy in this country is that we keep entering these overseas wars, we triumphantly declare the mission is accomplished the day after, and then we’re left with Americans bearing the consequences for decades," Khanna said.