McConnell asserts Biden's 'clear authority' for Iran airstrikes, says president should do more to deter terror

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Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Thursday morning that President Biden has "clear authority" to continue carrying out airstrikes in the Middle East and urged the president to do more to deter attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria.

"The Constitution of the United States, the consensus of our nation's founders and the weight of exhaustive historical precedent gives the president the clear authority to use military force when American lives and interests are under attack," McConnell said. "The commander in chief does not lack authority. Rather, he is failing to sufficiently exercise the authority that he has right now."

Despite military responses and warnings in Iraq and Syria, U.S. troops are still being targeted. According to the Washington Institute, a think tank focused on foreign policy in the Middle East, Iranian proxies have attacked U.S. forces 18 times in Syria and 10 times in Iraq since Jan. 4.

The orchestrated attacks appear to be part of Iran's response to Israel's war in Gaza after its ally, Hamas, attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

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"When President Biden took office, Senate Republicans warned him not to go soft on Iran," McConnell said. "We urged him not to abandon maximum pressure, not to obsess over restoring a failed