The U.S. and U.K. led a series of airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday evening, setting off alarms globally about how the attacks play into the smoldering regional risk of conflict — including a stream of questions from Congress about whether Biden was legally authorized to conduct the strikes at all.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said, “Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”
Yemen’s Houthis responded to Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip by attacking and blocking commercial ships in the Red Sea destined for or originating from Israeli ports. The attacks led to the near total shutdown of Israel’s port of Eilat in recent weeks.
With Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice in the Hague for allegedly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the Houthi blockade of Israeli trade in the Red Sea could gain a newfound global legitimacy.
The strikes in Yemen more directly involved the U.S. in Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah, which, like the Houthis, are backed by Iran. Biden justified the strikes as a “defensive action” — a nod to the issue of presidential powers — and promised more measures to secure the Red Sea. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” Biden said.
Immediately following the strikes, however, bipartisan members of Congress called into question the constitutionality of the attack. “It’s great to see the bipartisan opposition to this from the progressive left and populist right.,” said Aída Chávez of Just Foreign Policy. “It’s appalling that instead of acting to stop Israeli war crimes, the Biden administration chose to further damage both our global reputation and our Constitutional system by launching a new unauthorized conflict against Yemen.”
Progressives led the way in questioning Biden’s attack, but more moderate Democrats and a clutch of Republicans quickly followed suit.
“.@POTUS is violating Article I of the Constitution by carrying out airstrikes in Yemen without congressional approval,” tweeted Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. “The American people are tired of endless war.”
“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict. That is Article I of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House.” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
“Section 2C of the War Powers Act is clear: POTUS may only introduce the U.S. into hostilities after Congressional authorization or in a national emergency when the U.S. is under imminent attack. Reporting is not a substitute. This is a retaliatory, offensive strike.”
“This is why I called for a ceasefire early. This is why I voted against war in Iraq,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. “Violence only begets more violence. We need a ceasefire now to prevent deadly, costly, catastrophic escalation of violence in the region.”
“The United States cannot risk getting entangled into another decades-long conflict without Congressional authorization. The White House must work with Congress before continuing these airstrikes in Yemen,” posted Rep….
Read More: Biden’s Strikes in Yemen Are Unconstitutional, Bipartisan Members of Congress