By Corinne Murdock |
Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09), and Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07) were three out of less than 30 congressmen to push back against President Joe Biden’s bombing of Yemen.
Last week, the three men signed onto a bipartisan letter with 27 other members of Congress to declare that the military strikes were unauthorized, therefore unconstitutional, and that Biden required the consent of Congress to further engage.
“Article One of the Constitution is clear: Congress has the sole power to declare war and authorize U.S. military action,” stated the letter.
The congressmen argued that Biden only holds the authority to introduce U.S. forces into hostilities either after a declaration of war by Congress, after specific statutory authorization from Congress, or in a national emergency when the U.S. is under imminent attack.
Biden ordered the strikes earlier this month in response to Yemen-based Houthi militant attacks on U.S. military forces dating back to November. Biden’s letter to Congress announcing the strikes alleged that he had authority under the War Powers Resolution (WPR) of 1973.
Immediately following Biden’s letter to Congress, Biggs condemned the move as unconstitutional.
“[Biden] can’t unilaterally pull us into another war,” said Biggs. “Why does he want so many wars?”
Similarly, the congressmen contended in their letter that Biden proceeded under a selective reading of the WPR.
“The WPR of 1973 does not give blanket authority for a President to unilaterally involve U.S. military forces in a conflict if a President simply notifies Congress within 48 hours. The 48-hour reporting requirement only applies to a situation in which a President must act due to an attack or imminent attack against the United States,” read the letter.
However, the letter didn’t express any intent on applying punitive measures for the executive overreach. Rather, the letter concluded with a request for Biden to heed to their authority under the Constitution, with an offer to “debate” any war-making request by the administration.
The other members of Congress to sign onto the letter were Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna, Val Hoyle, Pramila Jayapal, Cori Bush, Jonathan Jackson, Summer Lee, Rashida Tlaib, Greg Casa, Ilhan Omar, James McGovern, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ayanna Presley, Nydia Velazquez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Delia Ramirez, Barbara Lee, Jamaal Bowman; and Republican Reps. Warren Davidson, Thomas Massie, Nancy Mace, Anna Paulina Luna, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Harriet Hageman.
In another statement on Tuesday following the deaths of three troops in Jordan, Gosar again declared Biden lacked the authority to bring the U.S. into a foreign conflict.
“Biden does not have the authority to take us into war with Iran without Congressional approval,” said Gosar.
Gosar further declared that Biden’s foreign policy was to blame for the three deaths.
“Biden bears full responsibility [for] the drone attack on our troops by recklessly reopening nuclear arms negotiations [with] Iran [and] giving them $6 billion [to] fund its military, refusing [to] enforce the Trump-imposed Iranian oil sanctions which has allowed Iran [to] rake in billions of profits,” said Gosar. “Biden also reversed the Trump-imposed freeze on millions of dollars that were diverted [to] Iran-sponsored terrorist activities.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
