Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) offered condolences after Sen. Lindsey Graham died Sunday.
Sending my deep condolences to Senator Lindsey Graham’s family, friends, and all those who loved him.
— Senator Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) July 12, 2026
What I’ll remember most about Senator Graham was his sense of humor and how he deployed it to move his policy positions forward. Though we did not often agree, Senator Graham…
Then he quickly moved to announce yet another attempt to restrict President Donald Trump's military authority against Iran.
Learn More: A Power Vacuum Has Opened in the GOP. Trump's Next Move Could Define It.
The mourning period lasted about as long as Schiff needed to find a camera.
Schiff appeared Sunday morning to declare Trump's renewed action against Iran unlawful and announce a new War Powers Resolution.
The renewal of fighting in Iran demonstrates the problem with Trump’s lack of strategy, the vagueness of the deal to make a deal, and the belligerence of an Iranian regime that feels it has the upper hand.
— Senator Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) July 12, 2026
This week, I’ll introduce a new War Powers Resolution to force the Senate… pic.twitter.com/L6sj9Vlpoc
He plans to force another Senate vote after the recent ceasefire collapsed and fighting resumed around the Strait of Hormuz.
Debating war powers is the job of any Congress; members who believe the president has exceeded his constitutional authority should introduce legislation, demand briefings, and publicly cast their votes. From Schiff's press release:
On Trump’s unconstitutional Iran war:
[…] You’re also seeing the problems with embarking on a war of choice. A war that the president got this country involved in, not because we were attacked or because there was an imminent threat of attack, but because he chose to do so. It was, I think, ill thought out. He never came to Congress for any authorization, so it was also unconstitutional and unlawful. I’ll be introducing another War Powers Resolution as soon as we go back this week to try to bring that conflict to an end. But sadly, Iran has realized that it has a kind of a nuclear weapon already. And that is the ability with minimal force to close the Strait of Hormuz and to choke off a big part of the world’s oil supply. And that has meant that Americans that are already struggling, that you know, with an economy that’s not working for people, are struggling harder now because they can’t afford the price of gas and groceries. And all the other impacts of this war of choice. So, very difficult to see where we go from here, except that it is likely to be protracted. It seems the administration is just fighting to get us back to something that looks a lot like the JCPOA. And I think President Trump’s tearing up of that agreement will go down as one of the gravest mistakes of foreign policy in history.
Schiff's timing adds the politics back into an already dangerous military question.
Graham's death temporarily reduces the Republican majority to 52 seats. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remains hospitalized, leaving Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) with little room for defections.
Several Republicans have already supported earlier efforts to limit Trump's Iran operations.
Schiff is many things, but as long as he has fingers and toes, he knows the math. He also knows Sunday brought a flood of breaking news, grief, military developments, and uncertainty inside the Republican conference.
Announcing his next move during that confusion gave him a chance to claim the constitutional high ground while exploiting a suddenly weakened majority.
His resolution also arrives after Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the United States struck more than 140 Iranian missile sites, drone positions, air defenses, and paramilitary boats. Iran answered attacks across many countries hosting American forces.
Schiff reduces those events to “Trump's war” and the price increases it has caused. Missing from his presentation is the burden carried by the commander in chief when Iran targets shipping, threatens American forces, and tries to control a waterway central to the global energy supply.
Although Congress can challenge Trump's strategy, it should also present an alternative that extends beyond passing another resolution and hoping Tehran becomes reasonable.
The Senate has held repeated votes over Iran. A June effort gained support from Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania opposed it.
The issue has never divided neatly along party lines.
Schiff's long record with Trump, and specifically his Trump Derangement Syndrome, makes his motives harder to separate from his constitutional argument.
Shocker, I know.
He served as one of Trump's central antagonists during the Russia! Russia! Russia! investigation and the first impeachment.
Now another foreign-policy crisis has placed Schiff back in his favored role: standing before the camera and accusing Trump of abusing power.
Sunday offered him an opening: Graham is gone, McConnell is unavailable, and Republicans were absorbing both political and military news.
Schiff stepped forward before the dust had settled.
Perhaps Congress should vote again. Let every senator explain whether the United States should respond when Iran attacks ships and threatens American personnel.
But Schiff shouldn't pretend his move floated above politics; he saw grief, chaos, and a tighter vote count.
Then, completely within his character, he reached for the microphone.
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