GOP representatives and progressive lawmakers co-signed a letter urging President Biden to seek congressional approval before having US troops “engage in hostilities.”
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- A bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers has asked Biden to get congressional approval before sending troops into Ukraine.
- The lawmakers co-signed a letter to the president despite some having acrimonious histories with one another.
- US troops are now in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, amid escalating tensions in the region.
Forty-three lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to obtain approval from Congress before sending US troops to intervene in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The letter, dated Tuesday, was signed by both progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush and Trump-allied GOP representatives, including Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar. The letter calls for Biden to abide by the Constitution and seek congressional authorization before having US troops “engage in hostilities.”
“We strongly urge your administration to respect the separation of powers, US law, and Congress’s constitutional war powers authority,” the letter reads.
“Should your administration seek to introduce US Armed Forces into hostilities or decline to remove any US military personnel currently deployed inside Ukraine from unauthorized hostilities or imminent hostilities, Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios,” the letter adds.
“The American people, through their representatives in Congress, deserve to have a say before US troops are placed in harm’s way or the US becomes involved in yet another foreign conflict,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter represents a rare instance in which progressives and far-right GOP representatives have crossed party lines in a joint call for action.
Some of the signees have been embroiled in personal spats. In November, for instance, Gosar posted an anime edit of himself slaying Ocasio-Cortez in monstrous form. Also in November, Bush called for the expulsion of three House Republicans — including Gosar — who offered Kyle Rittenhouse an internship after the 18-year-old was found not guilty in the shooting deaths of two men.
The lawmakers’ call also comes amid escalating tensions surrounding the Ukraine-Russia crisis. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden warned Russia that the US and its allies would “defend every inch of NATO territory.” He also announced that US forces would be headed to the Baltics — in the form of additional troops in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — to shore up defenses.
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