A Democratic member of Congress sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s foreign policy while outlining his legislative priorities on artificial intelligence and energy at the Elliott School of International Affairs on Thursday.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said the United States’ involvement in the war in Iran is illegal, immoral, unconstitutional and “just stupid,” warning that the conflict has strained relationships with key European and Middle Eastern allies. Beyer, speaking at an event hosted by the GW College Democrats with the organization’s president, Emily-Anne Santiago, moderating, said Trump administration officials started the conflict without long-term goals or a plan to end it, causing global oil prices to skyrocket and endangering the United States’ international reputation.
“Even if the war is over, we have so destroyed our relationship with all of our partners around the world, with all the European countries,” Beyer said.
The U.S.’s conflict with Iran began on Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after which Iran responded with hundreds of missiles and drones targeting Israel and U.S. bases across the region. At least 13 U.S. and two Israeli military members have died since the start of the war, according to the countries’ militaries, with over 1,444 Iranian people killed and another nearly 20,000 wounded, according to Iran’s health ministry.
The war has sent global oil prices soaring, with Brent crude — the global oil benchmark — hitting over $119 a barrel Friday and the average gas price sitting at $3.94 per gallon compared to $2.93 a month ago, according to AAA’s national gas prices tracker. Iran has blocked shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a conduit for roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply.
“Just a terrible thing in many, many, many respects,” Beyer said.
Beyer, who has represented Virginia’s 8th Congressional District — containing Alexandria, Arlington and Falls Church — since 2015, said he is the “lead cheerleader” for fusion energy on Capitol Hill, pushing his colleagues to devote money for research and funding the technology.
Fusion energy, an experimental technology which combines atoms to release far more energy than fission — the nuclear process that splits atoms, powers today’s nuclear plants and produces radioactive waste — generates no waste. Scientists hit a major milestone in 2022 with a reaction that produced more energy than it consumed, though the technology is not yet in use at an industrial capacity.
He said fusion energy could provide a nearly limitless source of clean energy, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and increasing American energy independence.
“We can replace almost all fossil fuels with sea water, with no radioactive waste,” Beyer said. “It is the miracle power. We know it works because every one of the trillions of stars in the universe are powered by fusion.”
Beyer, a co-chair of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus — created in 2017, said lawmakers are working to develop regulatory frameworks for rapidly advancing technologies like AI. He said he and his colleagues have drafted roughly 80 proposals addressing public concerns about job displacement, privacy, harmful content and long-term risks caused by AI, but none of the policies will likely advance because of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s stance against regulating the industry.
“We have already 80 concrete pieces of legislation to move towards a stable, light touch regulatory policy for AI, none of which will pass this year because our current speaker and leadership have said no AI policy at all,” Beyer said.
Trump unveiled a national legislative framework on Friday outlining his administration’s plans to regulate and advance AI technologies, including priorities, like respecting intellectual property rights and ensuring “American AI dominance” — calling on Congress to remove existing industry regulations.
Beyer added that Democrats would prioritize passing the measures the caucus has proposed if they regain control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections, which he predicted they would.
He said recent efforts to redraw congressional districts across the country have led to unfair representation and gerrymandered districts. Beyer said gerrymandering is a “terrible thing” and the country would be far more functional and fairer without it.
Virginia’s Democratic-controlled legislature passed a constitutional amendment in January, paving the way for a mid-decade redistricting push, where states usually only redraw every 10 years, sending it to voters for approval in an April ballot referendum. Beyer, who said he voted for the redistricting referendum, said that although he opposes gerrymandering in principle, he thinks Democrats must work to counteract Republican redistricting efforts in states like Texas.
“I voted for it, but I hate it,” Beyer said.
Beyer said he is optimistic about Democrats’ chances in the 2026 midterm elections as there are dozens of Republican-held seats the party believes it can flip to return Democrats to power in the House. He added that while the Democratic Party lacks a single unifying national leader to counter Trump, he expects leadership to emerge ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
“That change almost always comes from individuals who step up to lead,” Beyer said.
