I have been in direct contact with administration officials communicating my concerns, pressing for a clear status of negotiations, stronger congressional engagement, and assurances that America will not slide into another endless conflict. ... That is what I will work to secure.
Press for stronger congressional engagement and a clearly defined path forward on U.S. military action against Iran.
Occurrences
Today, Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-10) and Senator Joni Ernst introduced a bicameral resolution addressing the politicization of war crimes allegations against allied Special Operations Forces, calling on Congress to go on record that retrospective, politically motivated prosecutions of allied special operators damage the trust and interoperability that American alliances depend on.
Congress cannot keep rubber stamping a surveillance program that has been used to spy on American citizens. The FBI has abused this authority before in previous administrations, and reauthorizing it without a single reform to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of the people I represent would be a disservice to every constituent in North Carolina's Tenth District.
Evidence
“Today I voted no because this resolution disregards the law, misreads the War Powers Resolution, and sends a dangerous message of division to our adversaries at a time when American strength matters most,” said Congressman Harrigan. “The administration complied with the notification requirements under the War Powers Resolution, no sustained ground combat exists, and this was a limited, strategic action against a regime that has long targeted Americans and fought our interests abroad. To rush to constrain the Commander in Chief in the immediate aftermath of a successful, lawful operation weakens our deterrence, emboldens hostile regimes, and undermines our ability to protect the homeland and our troops.”
GovInfo lists H.J.Res.176 as introduced on May 7, 2026 and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The measure is titled “2026 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iran.”
“The United States executed a highly successful strategic strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure... Iran was given every opportunity to avoid this outcome... I fully support the President’s decision. These strikes were necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to protect American lives in the region.”
The member’s press release archive includes multiple national-security items, including the March 5 war-powers statement and later April/May 2026 releases, but no dated item in the lookback window shows Harrigan pressing for a formal congressional vote or a defined authorization/constraint mechanism specifically on U.S. military action against Iran.
Assessments
There is evidence of congressional activity creating a formal path on Iran military action, notably H.J.Res.176, which supports the idea that stronger congressional engagement and a defined path forward emerged during Harrigan's term. But the record provided does not show Harrigan sponsoring, leading, or clearly pressing for that mechanism himself. His clearest documented action was voting against a war-powers resolution that would have constrained presidential action, which shows involvement on the issue but not delivery of the promise as stated. Because the outcome was only partly reflected in Congress generally, with limited evidence of Harrigan's own causal role, partial credit fits best.