Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called the Biden administration's justification for attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen "laughable" during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, according to The Hill.
Although "Houthi behavior is abhorrent," Kaine reportedly told defense officials Tuesday, he has "grave skepticism" about the administration's interpretation of Article 2 of the Constitution.
"A narrow mission to defend U.S. shipping, both military and commercial — that is Article 2 self-defense," Kaine said, according to The Hill. "Article 2 self-defense means you can defend U.S. personnel, you can defend U.S. military assets, you probably can defend U.S. commercial ships. But the defense of other nations' commercial ships in no way — and it's not even close — that's not self-defense.
"If you're defending the commercial ships of other nations, it is in my view laughable to call that self-defense."
Article 2 gives the president the authority to circumvent Congress and use military force in self-defense. The United States and United Kingdom have struck more than 230 Houthi targets in Yemen since Jan. 11 in response to the terrorist group's attacks on commercial shipping and military vessels in the Red Sea.
The Biden administration has said the strikes on the Houthis are intended to degrade the group's capabilities to attack vessels in the Red Sea; the back-and-forth with the rebels has gone on for months, however.
Kaine was not the only Democrat questioning the White House's lack of congressional approval during the hearing.
"This looks to me like war in every bit of the constitutional sense," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said, according to The Hill.
Murphy is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism.
"We have engaged in multiple rounds of strikes, we have a limited number of boots on the ground, we have taken casualties, we have prisoners — I'm having a hard time understanding why this does not require a traditional, congressional war authorization," Murphy said.
Although he supports Biden's response to Houthi attacks – known as Operation Prosperity Guardian – Murphy said it requires the authorization of lawmakers.
"If we believe this is a just military action, and I do, then we should authorize it," Murphy said. "An authorization is important to legalize the existing operations but also to guard against an unauthorized mission creep."
Under the Vietnam-era War Powers Resolution, presidents must seek congressional approval within 60 days of launching a defense response. Biden has less than two weeks before the window closes, as the strikes on the Houthis began Jan. 11.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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