The Untouched Power That Could Stop The Iran War

The Untouched Power That Could Stop The Iran War

From Lever Time by David Sirota

April 30, 2026 · 52 min · Season 7 · Episode 21

About this episode

David Sirota discusses how Congress has the power to stop unauthorized wars, focusing on a historical immigration case that has influenced this dynamic.

Congress has the power to stop Trump’s unpopular war in Iran — but lawmakers have never used it before. Their excuse? An obscure immigration case from 1983. In this special episode, David Sirota tells the wild story of how a Kenyan-born immigrant and a Ralph Nader-aligned lawyer unwittingly expanded the powers of the president — and left Congress believing that it’s powerless to stop unauthorized wars. Listen to the rest of Master Plan: The Kingmakers. Get ad-free episodes of Master Plan and Lever Time by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: David Sirota

Topics covered

  • Iran War
  • Congress
  • Presidential Power
  • Immigration Case
  • Independent Journalism

Keywords

  • Iran
  • Congress
  • Trump
  • war powers
  • immigration case
  • David Sirota
  • Ralph Nader
  • independent journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Master Plan, Lever, Lever News, Megaphone

Places: Iran, Kenya

More episodes of Lever Time

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Lever Time podcast page.