The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump announced on June 22 that he and his allies would seek to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), in part referencing the Kentucky Republican’s opposition to Trump’s decision to bomb Iran nuclear sites on June 21. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Massie “thinks it's good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ at every chance they get.” That comes after Massie condemned U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, saying that carrying out these attacks without the consent of Congress was “not constitutional.” While the Constitution technically requires congressional authorization for military actions, over recent decades, that power has largely been vested in the executive. The last formal declaration of war was made during World War II. Since then, Congress has largely restricted itself to broad authorizations for the use of force, such as the one that authorized the U.S. invasion of Iraq, without a formal declaration of war. Massie has put forward a bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and 41 other Democratic lawmakers, that would require the United States to pull out of the conflict between Iran and Israel under the War Powers Resolution. No other Republicans currently back the proposal. Trump said, “We will have a wonderful American Patriot running against [Massie] in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard. MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one.” This caps off months of tensions between the two men, as Massie has regularly stood against his party on key issues, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would fund Trump’s agenda.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council will soon decide on whether to close the Strait of Hormuz after the Iranian parliament reportedly backed a measure to that effect, according to state-run media. Nearly 20 percent of global oil and gas flows through the strait, which allows passage from the Persian Gulf—flanked by some of the world’s biggest oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates—to the Indian Ocean. It’s unclear whether the parliament has in fact authorized security officials to close the strait. Iranian state media cited Esmail Kosari, a member of the parliament's national security commission, as saying that the parliament has “come to the conclusion we should close the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision in this regard is the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council." Kosari reportedly said earlier on Sunday that closing the strait was on the agenda and "will be done whenever necessary." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi didn’t answer directly when asked whether the Persian state would close the shipping corridor, simply replying, “A variety of options are available to Iran.” Reuters contributed to this report.