ICYMI: Warren Calls For Congress to Block Reckless War in Iran, Investigate Civilian Harm; Demands Accountability From Trump Administration
“Trump is lying to Americans while dragging us into yet another reckless war that is costing American lives.”
Video of Floor Speech (YouTube)
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), spoke on the floor of the Senate, calling on Congress to end President Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran and demand accountability.
“Donald Trump decided to drag the American people into a reckless, illegal war with Iran. A war based on lies. A war launched with no imminent threat to our country,” said Senator Warren.
On Saturday, the Trump Administration and Israel launched illegal strikes against Iran.
“One single person should not have the power to drag our entire country into a reckless war — but that’s exactly what Donald Trump has done,” said Senator Warren.
Senator Warren condemned the deaths of the six U.S. service members and those affected by a missile launch that reportedly killed over 150 people at a girls’ school in Iran — including girls as young as seven years old.
Senator Warren also shared her personal story about her three brothers serving in the U.S. military, highlighting the fear and pain experienced by families of service members.
“A new generation of veterans will have to live with the horrors of war,” said Senator Warren.
“The people who will be asked to sacrifice their lives are the American people. It won’t be Donald Trump. It won’t be Pete Hegseth. It will be our sons and daughters, our nieces and nephews, our grandchildren,” Senator Warren continued.
She called on Congress to block Trump's illegal war through Senator Tim Kaine's (D-Va.) and Senator Paul’s (R-Ky) bipartisan War Powers Resolution and for a thorough investigation into the bombing of an elementary school in Iran.
Senator Warren also emphasized the need for accountability from Trump administration officials for their lies to the American people.
“I am angry at what this administration is doing… and I will keep fighting for an end to this war,” concluded Senator Warren.
Transcript: Floor Speech on Iran
U.S. Senate Floor
March 3, 2026
Senator Elizabeth Warren: We are facing a dark moment in our country’s history.
On Saturday, Donald Trump decided to drag the American people into a reckless, illegal war with Iran. A war based on lies. A war launched with no imminent threat to our nation.
Six U.S. service members are now dead and more are badly hurt.
A missile from the US- and Israeli-led bombing campaign reportedly killed over 150 people at a girls’ school in Iran — many of them little girls, some as young as seven years old.
Now violence is spreading across the Middle East, with the threat of that violence bleeding into the United States.
And for what?
For another forever war the American people do not want?
The Constitution is clear: only Congress can declare war. That is because one single person should not have the power to drag our entire country into a reckless war — but that’s exactly what Donald Trump has done.
He has given prepared remarks. He has spoken to the press. And yet, even after multiple bombing runs and the death of American service members, Donald Trump cannot give a single clear reason for this war.
Why are we at war? Donald Trump has a dozen reasons and, ultimately, no reason at all.
Worse yet, Donald Trump is dragging Americans into this war with no plan for how to end it. He has no stated objectives. No clear strategies. No way to explain when we accomplish “this,” we will leave.
Even the deaths of Americans has not given Trump pause. Instead, he has doubled down.
Every hour the Trump administration feeds us shifting justifications for this war. Every hour he contradicts a justification he used earlier.
Donald Trump said that Iran has restarted its nuclear program. But his own officials have said that’s not true.
Donald Trump claimed that Iran is developing long-range missiles that will soon be capable of hitting the United States. That directly goes against what his own government has claimed.
As recently as January, the Trump administration said they would not engage in any regime change wars. But now, they’re calling for the Iranian people to rise up and change their regime.
Khamenei was an authoritarian dictator who had the blood of Americans on his hands. But killing one leader doesn’t topple a brutal regime. The next leader could be just as bad — or even worse.
And Donald Trump’s deceptions keep coming.
In June of last year, Trump bombed Iran and claimed that Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities had been, quote, “completely and totally obliterated.”
Now, Trump is telling the American people that he had to attack Iran on Saturday because Iran posed an imminent threat based on their nuclear capabilities.
Both of those things cannot be true.
If Donald Trump believes that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are a threat, then he had a chance to curb them. In fact, the United States had a deal that could have prevented Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
That was President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran — and Trump ripped up that deal and got nothing — nothing — in return.
And instead of doing the hard work of diplomacy to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, Trump is lying to Americans while dragging us into yet another reckless war that is costing American lives.
Already, six U.S. service members have been killed and others have been seriously hurt in these attacks.
My heart is with these service members and their loved ones.
But Trump doesn’t seem to care. In fact, he said he’s not ruling out sending U.S. ground troops into Iran.
He even said that while every president says, “there will be no boots on the ground,” he doesn’t say it — he’s proud of the fact that he’s willing to put American lives at risk for this war of his own choosing. It’s horrific.
The ripple effects of this violence are even broader: protestors in countries across the world are storming U.S. embassies and threatening the lives of State Department officials.
American citizens living in the region are now in the middle of a war zone, in danger and unsure if they can come home to safety.
And the violence is spreading. Iran has attacked at least nine countries since the Trump administration and Israel started this war on Saturday — putting more American service members and more American civilians abroad at risk and threatening to destabilize the entire region.
I disagree with Donald Trump, but I understand that he won the 2024 election. But when he ran in 2024, he said repeatedly that he would be a peace president. He ran on a platform of no more wars. He said he would be a president to stop wars, not start them. And Americans believed him.
But now we face an ugly reality: in the modern era, no American president has ordered more military strikes against as many different countries as Donald Trump. None.
Donald Trump’s disregard for human life seems to have no bounds.
I want to make one more point here. And it’s about something very personal to me.
All three of my brothers served in the military. My oldest brother served off and on in Vietnam for 6 years, running 266 combat missions.
I remember the fear our family felt with every late-night phone call or official-looking letter—could my brother be hurt or dead? It is still hard to find the words to describe the pain we put American families through when we ship a generation off to war.
Mommas are worried sick that their son or daughter will not make it home.
A new generation of veterans will have to live with the horrors of war. Live with the trauma of witnessing innocent victims of war take their final breath. Live with their own injuries and prolonged recoveries.
The people who will be asked to sacrifice their lives are the American people. It won’t be Donald Trump. It won’t be Pete Hegseth. It will be our sons and daughters, our nieces and nephews, our grandchildren.
Trump is right to note that people die in war. That happens as surely as night follows day. And that means that the leaders who send young people to die must take the consequences of this conflict with the seriousness it deserves—with life-and-death seriousness.
Instead, they seem to be treating war with Iran like a game, as if Commander in Chief was a costume, “Secretary of War” is a fun pretend title, and the lives lost are just numbers on a board with the title card "Operation Epic Fury."
Forty-eight hours after he started this war, Trump finally addressed the American people and took questions. He spoke to the people who are worried sick about what this war means for them and for the people they love.
Instead of offering a plan, however, he talked about renovations to his gold-encrusted ballroom. It’s sickening. And it is time for Congress to make him stop.
Here’s what we need:
First, Donald Trump started this war illegally – without the consent of Congress – and he cannot continue it. There’s too much at stake.
Every single Senator must support Senator Kaine’s War Powers Resolution to block this reckless war. This isn’t about politics. This is about life and death for young Americans who will be called on to serve and for civilians who will end up in harms’ way.
Second, the U.S. must investigate the bombing of an elementary school in Iran. Israel claims its military was not aware of any operations in the area by their own IDF. That raises the question of whether it was a US strike and how that happened.
The U.S. military’s Central Command has said it needs to look into the incident. As we regularly do following a catastrophe of this size with the possible involvement of the US military, we must find out what happened and hold those responsible to account.
And third, we need to hold accountable every single Trump administration official who lied to the American people about this unconstitutional war. People have a right to the truth from their government, and nowhere is that more crucial than in the life-and-death decisions surrounding the decision to go to war.
We must hold our elected officials accountable if they don’t level with the people who will be sent to fight and possibly to die.
Along with many of you, I am angry at what this administration is doing. I feel grief for those killed in this conflict. I feel anguish for the families at home trying to make sense of why their beloved husbands, wives, sons, daughters, moms, and dads are sent into a war that no one can explain. And I will keep fighting for an end to this war.
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