Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Sunday said Congress has been “feckless” in allowing President Trump’s authority to expand and cited the war with Iran as an example of Congress failing to check the executive branch’s growing power.
“Well, listen, I’m going to be one of those Democrats that say I think both parties have been feckless in allowing the growth of the power of the presidency. But let’s put this into perspective. Nothing Obama did, nothing Trump did even in his first term are in any way related to what we’re seeing right now, the biggest military engagement of our country since the war in Afghanistan,” Booker said during a Sunday appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Earlier in March, Senate Democrats tried to block Trump from striking Iran with a failed war powers resolution in an attempt to curb the president’s authority over military involvement in conflicts overseas. The vote was largely symbolic, as Republicans had enough support to stop the measure from passing.
“Literally, you see with what’s going on in the Strait of Hormuz right now as the biggest gumming up of the oil markets we have ever seen. The consequences strategically for us moving so many assets in the region means that we’re endangering the assets we have necessarily and potentially in other areas,” he added.
U.S. strikes on Iran have hit military sites, a desalination plant and a school, while Israeli-led attacks on Tehran have targeted oil refineries, leading to global concerns about oil extraction in the Middle East.
Crude oil prices have spiked to nearly $100 per barrel on the international market, which pushed dozens of countries to release their strategic reserves in an effort to stabilize economic conditions.
Despite the rise in prices, Booker said the war has cost Americans in realms outside of their pockets.
“This is a massive military undertaking, costing American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars and tragically costing 13 lives. So I understand past presidents have drifted and taken power from the Article 1 branch of government. But at this scale, at this magnitude, at this cost, why is Congress just laying down and doing nothing?” Booker asked anchor Jake Tapper.
“Because, if we allow this to happen, then we give Trump the permission to say, ‘OK, finished with Venezuela, I went to Iran, now I’m going to go to Cuba, now I’m going to go to North Korea.’ It is outrageous and never conceived of that we could have this level of a military engagement without the people’s house, Congress, doing something about it,” he added.
A handful of party members in the upper chamber filed a resolution seeking to block Trump from military intervention in Cuba. Lawmakers could vote on the measure within the next few weeks.
