Reposted byMike Levin
Trump just notified Congress that fighting with Iran has resumed, and in the same breath, he says the decision to keep this country at war is his alone.
That’s not how our Constitution works.
Congress Member Profile|U.S. Representative|Democrat|California District 49
Mike Levin
SoupScoreanalysis-first civic rating · view full breakdown
Loading…
Voting Record — 612
Yes46%
No53%
Present1%
Not Voting1%
Party align97%
Cross-party3%
Mike Levin
U.S. RepresentativeDemocratCalifornia District 49
SoupScore
Mike's ATmosphere Activity
20 recent posts · 25 sponsored · 101 cosponsored
Recent ATmosphere posts, sponsorships, and cosponsorships.
It is long past time for more of my Republican colleagues to wake up, cross the aisle, and help us put a stop to a claim of one man ruling over war and peace before the power Congress was given slips away for good.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07...
No president gets to claim sole authority over war. Not this one, not any one. The framers feared exactly this. So they gave the decision to Congress, the branch closest to the people.
That is why Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. When forces are sent into hostilities without authorization, the clock runs, and Congress must approve, or the fighting needs to stop.
A president is Commander in Chief once we are in a conflict. That decides how a war is fought. It has never meant the president alone decides whether to wage one.
Those are two different powers, and the framers split them deliberately so that no single person could march the nation into war.
That power was given to the people’s representatives.
Article I, Section 8 gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. Hamilton spelled it out in Federalist 69. The whole point of distinguishing our president from a king was that the king could take the country to war on his own, and the president could not.
Trump just notified Congress that fighting with Iran has resumed, and in the same breath, he says the decision to keep this country at war is his alone.
That’s not how our Constitution works.
This is your daily reminder that Trump and Republicans are spending billions of your tax dollars on an unauthorized war in Iran and Stephen Miller’s ICE agenda while gutting Medicaid, slashing SNAP, and driving up your health care costs.
Body cameras, judicial warrants, and independent review protect honest officers and innocent people alike. They are how you prove the official account when it’s true and correct it when it’s not.
You don’t need a position on immigration to see the problem.
Getting enforcement right and enforcing the law are not opposites.
But there is no body camera footage, because DHS confirms none of the officers were wearing one.
There is no dashcam footage.
And the three men riding in the van with him say the ICE account is false, that the van never veered toward any agent and that officers fired almost immediately.
Salgado Araujo was not the target. His brother, who was in the van, was not the target either. They stopped him because he drove a white van and, in their words, resembled the man they wanted.
ICE says he tried to run over an officer with his vehicle.
On the morning of July 7, he was driving his construction crew to a job site when an ICE officer shot him during a traffic stop. He died at the hospital.
Here is what the government itself now admits.
DHS confirmed the officers were looking for someone else.
He lived in this country for nearly 35 years. He built homes in Houston. He raised three sons, all American citizens. His family says he had no criminal record and had started the process of getting a work permit.
My grandmother was a lawful permanent resident her whole life.
My grandfather was 50 when he became a citizen. They followed the rules, they earned their place, and they paid what they owed every single year.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was on that same road.
I’m the grandson of Mexican immigrants. They came here, they worked hard, and they built a family.
It is long past time to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. The bill to do it is bipartisan and has broad support in the House. Speaker Johnson said he backs a ban, but has let his own promised timeline come and go with no vote on the floor. The American people deserve action.
Leadership means showing up for people when it counts. The families waiting on this help deserve better than a President this detached from their lives.
Here’s the good news.
This law takes effect at midnight whether he signs it or not, because Congress did its job. Democrats and Republicans came together, delivered for the American people, and made clear they would override any veto.
SoupScore Breakdown
Loading analysis metrics…
Voting History612 total votesExpandCollapse
Voting History
612 total votes
Recent roll calls with party-majority context so it is easier to scan how this member tends to vote.
| Date | Bill | Question | Position | Party Maj | Align? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-30 | H.J. Res. 89 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-30 | H.J. Res. 87 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.J. Res. 60 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.R. 859 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.R. 1442 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.R. 1402 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H. Res. 354 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H. Res. 354 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-28 | S. 146 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-28 | H.R. 973 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 22 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 22 (119th) | Send back to committee | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-04-10 | H. Con. Res. 14 (119th) | Accept Senate changes | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 1228 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 1526 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | H.R. 1526 (119th) | Send back to committee | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-04-09 | S.J. Res. 18 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | S.J. Res. 28 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | H. Res. 313 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | H. Res. 313 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-08 | H. Res. 294 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-08 | H. Res. 294 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-07 | H.R. 1039 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-07 | H.R. 586 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-01 | H.R. 1491 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-01 | H. Res. 282 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-04-01 | H. Res. 282 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-31 | H.R. 997 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-31 | H.R. 517 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.J. Res. 75 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.J. Res. 24 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-25 | H. Res. 242 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-25 | H. Res. 242 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-25 | H.R. 1534 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-24 | H.R. 1326 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-24 | H.R. 359 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.J. Res. 25 (119th) | Final passage | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.R. 1968 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.R. 1968 (119th) | Send back to committee | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.R. 1156 (119th) | Final passage | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H. Res. 211 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H. Res. 211 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-10 | H.R. 993 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-10 | H.R. 901 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-10 | H.R. 495 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
Alignment stats consider only votes where a clear yes/no majority existed for the legislator's party. Cross-party marks divergence where the vote matched the opposite party majority. ↔ indicates cross-party divergence.