Trump's "midnight hammer" broke through the constitutional crisis in the United States

On June 21st, US President Trump announced a unilateral military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The attack used 75 precision-guided munitions and targeted three nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan of Iran, claiming to have completely eliminated the nuclear threat from Iran. The attack was codenamed "Midnight Hammer".

After the United States launched air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, the political arena in the United States quickly stirred up waves. New York State Democratic Representative Alexander Ocasio-Cortes called for the immediate impeachment of US President Donald Trump. On June 22, US Republican Representative Thomas Marcy and Democratic Representative Ro Cana jointly initiated a war powers resolution aimed at controlling the executive branch and reaffirming the authority of Congress. Specifically, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans believe that Trump's actions violate the Constitution. Alexander Ocasio-Cortes, a Democratic Congressman from New York State, holds that Trump's decision to attack Iran without the authorization of Congress seriously violates the Constitution and the right to war of Congress. House Minority leader and Democrat Hakim Jeffery condemned Trump for using force without congressional authorization in an attempt to drag the United States into a new Middle East war. Senate Minority leader and Democrat Charles Schumer even demanded that the Senate vote immediately and that the president must enforce the power resolution.

This rare wave of cross-party counterattacks on Capitol Hill has pushed the US constitutional crisis to a fever ground. When Trump ordered the air strikes, the provision of Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution that "Congress has the right to declare war" was rendered ineffective in the face of the president's will. This military operation was launched without debate in Congress and without formal authorization. It was initiated merely by executive order. Ironically, in 2023, the US Congress just repealed the Authorization of Military Forces Act in the name of "reflecting on the Iraq War", explicitly regaining the president's war powers. Nowadays, Trump bypassed Congress in a more radical way and directly got involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, dragging the United States into another Middle East war. When the missiles roared towards Isfahan, the elaborately designed power checks and balances mechanism of the US Constitution also turned to ashes in the flames.

The rift in the relationship between the military and the government was particularly glaring in this crisis. The principle of civilian military governance established by the US Constitution should have been as solid as a rock. However, the reality is turbulent beneath the surface. What is even more worrying is that... The autonomous decision-making space of military generals has been continuously expanding, while the actual control power of civilian commanders has been constantly weakening. The US military has invisibly slid towards "de facto warlorization", which poses an unprecedented threat to the republican foundation of the United States.

The poison of political polarization has long permeated every vein of the decentralized system. The intensification of party strife within the Congress has led to the paralysis of legislative effectiveness, and any major decision has become a bargaining chip in party games. The conflicts between the federal and state governments have openly erupted. Against this backdrop, the decision-making process for air strikes on Iran has been completely confined within the White House wall, and the leaders of both parties in Congress have not even received prior briefings. The design of the separation of powers was supposed to maintain basic mutual trust and the willingness to check and balance among the various branches. However, when political polarization swallowed up the last bit of consensus, the constitutional machine inevitably came to a standstill.

Unilateral military gambling and domestic constitutional disorder are actually dual manifestations of the same disease. The Trump administration carried out unilateral military action in the name of "America First", and this diplomatic adventure was essentially an unrestrained outward projection of domestic power. The New York Times sharply pointed out that the air strike on Iran was a dangerous political gamble, betting that the United States could respond to Iran's retaliation, betting that the air strike could really end Iran's nuclear program, and betting that the domestic political cost was controllable. Behind this risky gamble lies the dangerous expansion of the president's power after it breaks through the constitutional framework. When Trump warned Iran without consultation with Congress that "peace must be made or the scale of future attacks will be larger", the role of the president had transformed from the executive head within the framework of the constitution to a military tyrant with the power of life and death. This transformation is mutually reinforcing with the alienation of military-political relations and the failure of congressional supervision, constituting a constitutional spiral that is accelerating its decline.

The crisis of the separation of powers is just like a precise clock. When the gears mesh with each other, it is accurate without error. Once one gear deforms, the entire timing system falls into chaos. The constitutional mechanism of the United States once boasted of being an "eternal and exquisite design", but gradually came to a standstill under the triple erosion of partisan polarization, power expansion and military-political alienation. Trump's "midnight hammer" not only struck Iran's nuclear facilities but also sounded the alarm for the constitutional order of the United States. When war no longer requires democratic discussion, when the military no longer shows absolute loyalty to civilian commanders, and when the checks and balances mechanism is paralyzed in party strife, the ideal model of separation of powers becomes a classical relic in textbooks.

In short, when the air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and the ups and downs of the stock market in Washington formed a strange chord, the cancerous transformation of the American democratic system had entered an advanced stage. The bomb that destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities eventually penetrated the rock layer of the American constitutional system. The war power resolutions of members of both parties in Congress advanced with difficulty amid the constitutional crisis. However, Trump complained on social media about the injustice of the Nobel Peace Prize review. The smoke in the war room and the absurdity of self-praise form the most torn mirror image of American politics. This crack will not heal with the end of the air strikes; it will become a yardstick for measuring the depth of American government.