Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recent reactions to law enforcement, which some have interpreted as pushing back against the New York Police Department, likely won’t hurt him as much as previous mayors, a local crime expert told Fox News Digital, and could end up working to his overall political advantage. 

‘It may not hurt Mamdani in the way that it might hurt another mayor,’ said Manhattan Institute fellow Rafael Mangual. 

‘I do think that Zohran Mamdani is OK with being an opponent and a critic of the NYPD. I think he comes from a sort of ideological perspective that does not believe that the NYPD actually reduces crime. So, if the NYPD pulls back and crime goes up, I think he will see that as an opportunity to further criticize the NYPD and point to reasons why it should be defunded in favor of this Department of Community Safety and some of these other proposals that he would much rather invest in.’

Two significant events in the city indicate that the mayor will not defend the police department, according to Mangual, and could result in cops pulling back due to lack of support. They include an incident last month in Washington Square Park, dubbed ‘Snowballgate,’ where a mob of roughly 100 people pelted NYPD officers with snowballs, leaving two officers injured. 

Rather than condemning the assault, Mamdani appeared to downplay the violence, referring to the perpetrators as ‘kids’ taking part in a snowball fight. 

‘Mamdani did not come out in support of the NYPD in that incident. Instead, he seemed to kind of brush it off and even refused to call for the prosecution of the perpetrators,’ Mangual said, adding that the actions of the mob clearly qualified as an assault against police officers. 

‘Unfortunately, I think the mayor’s response was found wanting. He seemed unwilling to condemn it as an assault. He seemed unwilling to even say that it was something that shouldn’t be done in the future, and I think that is going to create a sense in the NYPD that this administration does not have their back.’

Perhaps more concerning, according to Mangual, was Mamdani’s reaction to a recent officer-involved shooting in Queens where, despite bodycam footage showing an officer being immediately attacked with a deadly weapon after entering a home at the owner’s invitation, Mamdani called on the district attorney to not prosecute the knife wielding suspect who was reportedly having a mental health episode. 

Additionally, Mamdani visited the attacker and his family after the incident.

‘For Mayor Mamdani to come out and not just meet with the family as if this individual is some sort of crime victim, but to also make an open call to the Queens DA not to prosecute the individual for the obvious and clear assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, I think is just completely irresponsible,’ Mangual said. 

‘But it also will reinforce that sense in the NYPD that I think is already existing: that this administration is an opponent, not a partner. And if that dynamic continues, and it reaches further down into the rank and file, I do think that the city is going to see a more reluctant police force at a time in which it needs it to be proactive.’

As a candidate, Mamdani attempted to distance himself from previous support of police defunding but faced backlash last month when he announced that part of his plan to balance the budget involves cutting the NYPD’s budget and canceling 5,000 new officer hires.

‘I think what we’ve seen in the early days of this administration is that Mamdani is not yet willing to position himself as an open partner of the NYPD,’ Mangual said. ‘He is still trying to make a decision about whether he is going to lean into his more natural identity of an opponent of the NYPD.’

The NYPD is ‘between a rock and a hard place’ under Mamdani, Mangual said, adding that officers will be ‘less likely to put their lives on the line for a city that they do not feel has their back.’

‘He’d be perfectly happy with a world in which he can say, ‘Look, the NYPD is a failure, it’s not keeping crime down, it’s time to try other approaches,” Mangual said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. 

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Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave very different responses to House lawmakers last week when asked whether President Donald Trump should testify in their Jeffrey Epstein probe, newly released video shows.

Both testified to the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors for hours in their hometown of Chappaqua, New York.

Each was also asked by the Democratic side whether Trump should come before the committee himself, given his own known past ties to the late financier and sex trafficker.

‘Absolutely,’ Hillary Clinton answered when the question was posed by Democrats’ staff.

She cited the civil case involving writer E. Jean Carroll in which Trump was found civilly liable for defaming Carroll over her allegations that he sexually assaulted her, as well as the 34-count criminal verdict by a New York City court related to allegations he sought to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both cases.

Neither case relates to Epstein, but Hillary Clinton claimed it proved a ‘pattern’ of behavior that would be relevant to the committee’s probe.

‘I think that it would be in keeping with the scope of the investigation of this committee to set up a deposition with President Trump. I know he’s been deposed many, many, many times. He’s taken the Fifth Amendment many, many hundreds of times,’ she argued.

‘So I’m not saying you’re going to get a lot of information, but given what’s in the files, and given past and prior conduct, he would be on my witness list.’

Bill Clinton’s response was far more muted, however.

When asked by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the committee’s top Democrat, whether Trump should be called in, the former president did not express support one way or another.

‘That’s for you to decide. But he did know him well, and I once had a brief discussion with him about it,’ Bill Clinton said.

Garcia attempted to move on to the next Democratic lawmaker before Bill Clinton cut in again, ‘I hate this, because I don’t believe I should inject anything, but I do not want to leave the impression, but since there was no follow-up question, he never — the president never, this is 20-something years ago, never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein, either.’

‘He just said, ‘We were friends. And then we had a falling out over a land deal, property deal.’ That’s all,’ Bill Clinton said.

He then said the conversation occurred on Trump’s golf course and that he ‘somehow’ knew that the former president had flown on Epstein’s plane.

‘And he said, you know, ‘We had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal.’ And he said, ‘I’m sorry it happened.’ That’s all,’ the former president said.

His deposition included far fewer dramatic moments on the whole than his wife’s, who was confronted by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and others during multiple explosive points in her own deposition.

At one point, Hillary Clinton even temporarily stormed out of her seat after it was discovered that Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., had run afoul of the deposition’s rules by posting a photo of the former secretary of state.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday said the department is reviewing interviews with some individuals who crossed the border under former President Joe Biden to identify potential threats following the conflict with Iran.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, questioned Noem during a DHS oversight hearing, asking about the ‘millions of people’ who entered the U.S. under Biden’s ‘open border policy’ and what steps Homeland Security has taken to protect against potential Iranian sleeper cells and related terrorism.

Noem replied that DHS works with intelligence agencies and law enforcement to investigate and find any threats on U.S. soil.

‘Not only that, we go back and we are getting some of the individuals in some of the programs that we may have concerns about looking at social media, also going through those interviews that are necessary for some of our programs that the Biden administration abused and perverted under their time there as well,’ Noem said.

‘We know that we have many dangerous individuals that came in unvetted, and we are working every single day to find them and to make sure that we’re preventing the next attack and preventing the next crime they may perpetuate against the American people,’ the secretary continued.

The comments come after the joint U.S.–Israel strikes on Iran on Saturday morning that officials say targeted Iranian leadership and key military installations.

The conflict has led American counterterrorism agencies to quietly monitor suspected sleeper cells on U.S. soil, stepping up surveillance amid heightened fears of possible retaliation from Iran-linked operatives or sympathizers, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The sleeper cell concerns came into full focus over the weekend when authorities say a Senegalese man opened fire at patrons of an Austin, Texas, bar while wearing a sweatshirt that read ‘Property of Allah.’

Fox News also learned Monday that a DHS memo was sent out over the weekend to various law enforcement agencies nationwide warning of potential cyberattacks and lone wolf physical attacks as a result of the U.S.-Israel bombing in Iran.

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Iranian regime is ‘running out of launchers’ as its forces are ‘being decimated.’ 

The president made the remarks despite saying that the Iranian military is expected to ‘keep lobbing missiles for a while,’ according to Politico. The State Department is urging Americans to depart immediately from more than a dozen countries across the Middle East, warning of ‘serious safety risks’ as the Iran war intensifies. 

‘They’re running out, and they’re running out of areas to shoot them, because they’re being decimated,’ Trump told Politico. ‘They’re running out of launchers.’ 

Trump’s comments come as the Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that ‘targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in Tehran and Isfahan were struck.’

‘Throughout Iran, industrial sites used by the Iranian regime to produce weapons, particularly ballistic missiles, were targeted,’ the IDF said. 

‘Isfahan: Dozens of targets related to the ballistic missiles array, including launchers and missile storage sites, were struck,’ it added. 

The United States launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran and Israel launched its parallel campaign, Operation Roaring Lion, on Saturday. 

‘The Air Force personnel, the fighters — both women and men — the commanders and the technical teams, are doing amazing work in defense and offense. All of Israel must appreciate their contribution to the defense of Israel’s civilians and to striking those who seek our harm,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X on Tuesday.

‘We are on the fourth day of Lion’s Roar,’ he added. ‘We are roaring and we are acting.’ 

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump said U.S. military strikes on Iran have eliminated much of the regime’s anticipated leadership succession bench, raising new questions about who will emerge to lead the Islamic Republic after the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

‘Most of the people we had in mind are dead,’ Trump told reporters Tuesday. ‘So, you know, we had some in mind from that group that is, is dead. And now we have another group. They may be dead also based on reports. So, I guess you have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.’

The president said the worst-case scenario would be someone taking over ‘who’s as bad as the previous person.’ 

‘That could happen,’ Trump said. ‘We don’t want that to happen. It would probably be the worse you go through this, and then, in five years, you realize you put somebody in who was no better. We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back for the people, and we’ll see what happens with the people. You know, they have their chance.’

The remarks come as Israeli strikes hit the building in the holy city of Qom, Iran, associated with the country’s Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body constitutionally responsible for selecting the next supreme leader, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Effie Defrin confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

‘We struck a few targets involved in terrorism,’ Defrin said. 

Iranian media has claimed the building was empty at the time of the strikes. Israel does not yet have a battle damage assessment, Defrin said.

The White House has said 49 top Iranian leaders were taken out in the opening phase of the campaign, which Trump said put the operation ‘ahead of schedule.’

Defense officials, however, have stressed the operation was not designed to force regime change.

‘This is not a so-called regime change war,’ War Secretary Pete Hegseth said. ‘But the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it today.’

That distinction now sits at the center of a critical geopolitical question: If the U.S. did not intend to overthrow Iran’s ruling system but has eliminated much of its top leadership and succession chain, what happens next?

How Iran’s succession process is supposed to work

Under Iran’s constitution, the Assembly of Experts selects a new supreme leader when the position becomes vacant. In the interim, a three-person council — composed of the president, the head of the judiciary and a senior cleric — carries out the leader’s duties until a permanent successor is chosen.

After Khamenei’s death, Iranian authorities moved to activate that constitutional mechanism. President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and senior cleric Alireza Arafi are overseeing the interim phase.

The structure is designed to prevent exactly the kind of vacuum that can destabilize authoritarian systems. But Trump’s assertion that multiple potential successors were killed has intensified uncertainty about whether Tehran’s clerical establishment still has a clear and viable path forward.

While Israeli officials have indicated that senior figures were targeted in recent strikes, Iran has not publicly confirmed a full list of clerical or succession-level casualties. The extent to which the Assembly of Experts itself was directly disrupted remains unclear.

Potential successors and reported losses

Judiciary chief Mohseni-Ejei has long been viewed as a senior insider within the succession framework and remains part of the interim leadership council.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had quietly begun preparing for a potential transition during last year’s 12-day war between Iran and Israel, according to prior reporting by The New York Times. 

Possible successors reportedly included his chief of staff Ali Asghar Hejazi, Mohseni-Ejei and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Israeli officials have claimed Hejazi was killed in recent strikes, though Iranian authorities have not publicly confirmed his death.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has also been viewed by some analysts as a potential contender within the clerical hierarchy.

Trump’s claim that ‘second or third place is dead’ suggests U.S. intelligence assessed that multiple tiers of leadership were affected. However, no comprehensive public accounting of succession-ranking figures killed has been released.

Risk of power shifts 

Some analysts warn that wiping out multiple tiers of leadership risks creating the kind of power vacuum that has destabilized other countries after the removal of entrenched rulers.

After Moammar Gadhafi was removed in Libya in 2011, rival militias and competing governments fractured the country. The U.S. invasion of Iraq similarly led to prolonged insurgency and regional upheaval.

Iran’s situation is not identical. The country retains formal succession rules, centralized institutions and a functioning state bureaucracy.

But if clerical leaders struggle to agree on a successor, competing power centers could emerge.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which controls vast military, intelligence and economic assets, could move to consolidate influence if civilian religious leadership falters.

‘When clerics cannot agree, power does not disappear. It shifts,’ analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies wrote in a recent assessment, warning that sustained instability could empower the IRGC. ‘The most likely beneficiary of sustained instability is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.’

Domestic unrest and opposition figures

Iran’s leadership already has faced intense domestic unrest.

Nationwide protests erupted in late December 2025 concerning economic hardship and political grievances, prompting a sweeping government crackdown. Trump has claimed 32,000 people were killed during the regime’s response, a figure significantly higher than official Iranian statements and independent estimates.

To stifle communication and hinder coordination among demonstrators, Iranian authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout during the unrest and again after the start of U.S. strikes.

Outside the regime, opposition figures have positioned themselves as potential transitional voices in the event of broader political realignment.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, has cast himself as a symbol of the opposition and a potential transitional figure who could steer Iran toward a democratic system if the clerical order collapses.

But Pahlavi lives in the U.S., and Trump said Tuesday someone within Iran might be more ‘appropriate.’ 

‘Some people like him, and we haven’t been thinking too much about that,’ Trump said. ‘It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate. I’ve said that he looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that’s there that’s currently popular if there is such a person.’

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran — a coalition of exiled opposition groups led by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) — advocates for the overthrow of the clerical regime and establishment of a democratic republic.

Both figures have international supporters, but their actual influence inside Iran remains uncertain and contested.

Not regime change — but what is it?

Critics of U.S. intervention in the Middle East often point to past regime-change efforts that produced instability rather than stability.

Trump has instead pointed to Venezuela as a more relevant comparison. 

In January, U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro, and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed power under Venezuela’s constitutional process. The country’s governing institutions continued functioning while Washington exerted influence through economic pressure, legal action over oil assets and diplomatic engagement rather than direct rule.

Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier that the Venezuela operation was a template for leadership that ‘takes over’ and one the United States can work with, suggesting the administration sees a pathway where entrenched systems adjust under pressure rather than collapse outright.

Whether Iran follows that model — maintaining institutional continuity despite devastating leadership losses — or whether deeper fractures emerge inside the clerical establishment remains one of the most consequential unanswered questions in the Middle East.

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Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby told lawmakers that the administration’s latest defense strategy proposal does not sideline the U.S.’ European allies, but rather it aims to go back to a ‘Cold War mentality’ with an emphasis on ‘burden sharing.’

The Pentagon policy chief was grilled on Tuesday as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned the 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS).

The strategy outlines a shift in U.S. priorities to keep Washington engaged in Europe while also prioritizing defense of the ‘U.S. Homeland and deterring China.’ The NDS also calls for NATO allies, which it says are ‘substantially more powerful than Russia,’ to take responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., expressed doubts in his opening statement about leaving Europe to handle threats from Russia. The senator said that ‘any clear-eyed assessment of the military situation in Europe makes it clear we cannot fully delegate the Russia problem to our European allies.’

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committee’s ranking member, called the NDS a ‘flawed proposal,’ and also expressed concerns about the strategy’s approach to Russia, which he said focused U.S. efforts on Moscow’s growing nuclear arsenal, as well as its advances in space and cyber spaces.

‘While I understand the logic of pursuing the right balance of U.S. military capabilities with those of our European allies, I do not accept the abdication of our clear national security interests in Europe by suggesting Russia is their problem to manage,’ Reed said in his opening remarks.

Colby told the senators that the strategy did not leave America’s allies in danger, saying it was meant to focus U.S. resources ‘realistically and prudently’ while accounting for ‘our allies’ and partners’ ability and will to meet those challenges.’ He described the strategy as going back to a ‘Cold War mentality’ that focused on U.S. allies doing their part to combat threats within their regions. The Pentagon policy chief noted that the U.S. has a network of allies with ‘tremendous military power.’

Colby said the model that the administration is pursuing is ‘NATO 3.0,’ which aims to have ‘wealthy European allies take the lead for the conventional defense of European NATO.’

‘In Europe and other theaters, allies will take the lead against threats that are less severe for us but more so for them, with critical but more limited support from the United States,’ he said.

Colby cited this when responding to concerns Wicker expressed during his statement, saying that the strategy recognizes European interests in the context of certain threats without leaving U.S. allies in the lurch. He said the strategy is a return to shared defense burdens and responsibilities.

‘I think this is a return to the Cold War mentality, when these were expected to be real military alliances with burden-sharing, and members of this committee in the 1970s and ’80s on both sides of the dais, would make a real point of making sure that our allies did their part. And we’re going back to that noble heritage,’ he said.

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The State Department has so far helped more than 130 Americans evacuate Israel during the war with Iran, an official told Fox News on Tuesday. 

‘Hundreds of American citizens have left Israel since the start of the conflict. Over the last few days, the State Department has assisted over 130 American citizens [in departing] Israel, with an additional 100 American citizens expected to depart today,’ the State Department official said. 

‘The Department is in direct contact and aiding nearly 500 American citizens [with arranging] travel out of Israel currently,’ the official added. 

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said overnight, ‘We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,’ and that there are ‘very limited’ options available.

‘As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,’ Huckabee said on X. ‘Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.’ 

The State Department also has warned Americans in more than a dozen countries across the Middle East to depart immediately due to risks tied to the conflict with Iran. 

Officials have warned that conditions in the region remain volatile and that security situations can change quickly as fighting tied to the Iran conflict continues. 

The warnings come days after the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, striking command-and-control centers, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites.

Israel has been striking Iran as part of its Operation Roaring Lion. 

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is warning Democrats not to play politics with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) funding, particularly as the country is on high alert for any fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

‘Put the safety and security of the American people first and stop playing political games to appease the far-left base, especially at a time like this,’ Scalise said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS, now in its 18th day, has taken on new significance in the wake of President Donald Trump’s military action in Iran.

Bipartisan deals have funded 97% of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but divisions between Democrats and Republicans over Trump’s immigration crackdown have prevented any such compromise on DHS.

House GOP leaders announced over the weekend that the chamber would vote this Thursday on a bipartisan DHS funding bill that passed in January in a bid to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown. 

That bill failed to advance in the Senate multiple times, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement that Republicans have deemed nonstarters.

‘We are on a higher level of alert, and this is not the time for Democrats to be playing games and shutting down the department that is focused on keeping Americans safe here at home,’ Scalise said. ‘So we’re bringing this bill back up again to try to get them to come to their senses and open the Department of Homeland Security.’

The bill passed in a 220-207 vote in late January, with just seven Democrats crossing the aisle in support. All but one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted in favor.

However, Scalise said ‘any responsible member of Congress’ should vote for the legislation this time.

‘The country is watching and expects members of Congress to take the safety of the American people at heart. And so I hope we get a much larger vote this time,’ he said.

DHS is a wide-ranging department that was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

While it’s most recently grabbed headlines for actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS is also responsible for a variety of national security-focused offices like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Scalise pointed out that it’s also critical to keeping the U.S. safe during global events being hosted within its borders.

‘We had a hearing last week on the World Cup, the people in charge of security for the World Cup were saying that they may have to start canceling some events,’ he said. ‘And that was before Iran.’

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Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley slammed Democrats who claim that the Iranian regime was not a threat to the U.S., calling the notion ‘absurd.’

‘It’s absurd for Democrats to say the Iranian regime was no threat to America. For decades, they targeted American troops, made the spread of terrorism a priority, relentlessly pursued nuclear weapons, built missiles aimed at our bases, and plotted assassinations against President Trump and other U.S. leaders — myself included — on American soil,’ Haley said on X.

‘When they chanted ‘Death to America,’ they meant all of us, at any cost,’ she added.

Haley told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum that the U.S. and Israel’s joint military offensive, Operation Epic Fury, was a ‘history-defining moment.’ She added that for President Donald Trump, her former boss-turned-political rival, it was a ‘legacy defining moment.’

‘They attempted to do diplomacy, and the Iranian Regime did what they always do. They lie, they cheat, they never tell the truth, and they always want to make sure in the back of their minds they want to harm people,’ Haley told MacCallum. ‘And we saw this when we got out of the Iranian deal, you know, years ago, that they were cheating then. I think that they were trying to get away with cheating now, and I think the Trump administration saw through that.’

The launch of Operation Epic Fury caused a sharp divide within the Democratic Party, with major players praising and criticizing the attacks.

Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both of whom called the launch of Operation Epic Fury ‘illegal,’ are among the most vocal critics. Additionally, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed that the operation lacked ‘strategic clarity’ and called for a vote on a war powers resolution.

‘Confronting Iran’s malign regional activities, nuclear ambitions, and harsh oppression of the Iranian people demands American strength, resolve, regional coordination, and strategic clarity. Unfortunately, President Trump’s fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy,’ Schumer said in a statement.

‘The Senate should quickly return to session and reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act,’ Schumer added.

On Feb. 28, when the strikes began, Kaine said that Trump ‘launched an unnecessary, idiotic, and illegal war against Iran that puts America’s servicemembers and embassy personnel at risk.’ Kaine, as well as some other Democrats, called for Congress to return to Washington to vote on his war powers resolution. The resolution, which focused on Iran, was filed in January.

Sanders also issued a statement on Saturday criticizing the operation in which he slammed both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Vermont senator said Trump and Netanyahu had started an ‘illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war’ against Iran. Sanders, like Kaine, called for a vote on a war powers resolution.

‘This attack against Iran is a clear violation of international law and will create increased instability in an already dangerous world. If the United States and Israel can launch an attack against a sovereign nation, so can any other country. Might does not make right. It creates international anarchy, death, destruction and human misery,’ Sanders’ statement read.

‘We must not allow Trump to force us into another senseless war. No war with Iran,’ he added.

There are Democrats who have praised the operation, including Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has said that he would be a ‘hard no’ if Democrats forced a war powers resolution vote.

‘President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel,’ Fetterman wrote on X as Operation Epic Fury began.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., also praised the operation, saying that ‘confronting the Iranian threat is essential to national security and to global stability.’

He also called on the president to comply with the War Powers Act and said that he ‘requested an immediate classified briefing’ on the operation.

‘Today, the United States, with our key democratic ally Israel, took decisive action to defend our national security, fight terror, protect our allies, and stand with the Iranian people who have been massacred in the streets for demanding freedom from the murderous Iranian regime,’ Gottheimer said.

‘I applaud the extraordinary bravery and professionalism of our servicemembers and pray for their safety as Iran and its terrorist proxies retaliate against American bases and our partners in the region,’ he added.

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The findings of two new national polls conducted in the hours after President Donald Trump launched strikes on Iran are clear — only a minority of Americans approve of the operation and Democrats and Republicans don’t see eye to eye over the attacks.

Twenty-seven percent of those questioned in a Reuters/Ipsos national survey conducted Saturday and Sunday after the start of ‘Operation Epic Fury’ by American and Israeli forces on Iran that resulted in the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said they approved of the strikes. 

A plurality, 43%, said they disapproved, with nearly three in 10 not sure.

There were similar findings in a CNN poll conducted by SSRS that was also in the field this past weekend.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans surveyed in the poll said they disapproved of the initial decision to strike Iran, with 41% giving a thumbs up.

As expected, there’s a wide divide between Democrats and Republicans.

Republicans questioned in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, by a 55%-32% margin, were supportive of the military action. The vast majority of Democrats, 73%, disapproved of the strikes, with only 7% saying they approved. A plurality of independents, 44%, disapproved of the military attack, with 19% supportive and nearly four in 10 unsure.

The partisan gap was even wider in the CNN poll.

More than three-quarters of Republican respondents, 77%, approved, compared to 32% of independents and 18% of Democrats.

According to the CNN poll, 83% of Republicans said Trump has a clear plan for handling the attacks on Iran, while 70% of independents and 88% of Democrats disagreed.

Overall, six in 10 said they don’t think the president has a clear plan for dealing with the situation, and 62% said Trump should get congressional approval before any further military action.

Both polls were conducted before the U.S. military announced on Sunday the first U.S. casualties in the operation — six service members killed.

The joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran is now in its fourth day as of Tuesday, with Trump saying the plan is ahead of schedule thanks to the early elimination of Iran’s top leaders.

Trump has said Iran is seeking talks with the U.S. as the military operations continue, but the president indicated he believes the opportunity for negotiations has passed.

The U.S. has urged Americans to leave 14 countries across the Middle East as Iran’s counterattacks intensify. The U.S. State Department has also closed embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council warned Iran it will take ‘all necessary measures,’ including possible military action, in response to Tehran’s missile and drone attacks.