Tlaib, Bush: Biden’s deployment of US troops to Israel violates the Constitution

A group of five White House Democrats has warned the White House that the executive branches are violating US law in deploying US troops to support Israel’s escalating violence in the Middle East, issuing a stark warning to the Biden administration as experts say it is willfully ignoring the law intern. to support Israel’s aggression.

In a letter President Joe Biden, led by Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and Cori Bush (D-Missouri), MPs say that the administration’s unilateral decisions to share information with the Israeli military and deploy troops to Israel and the Middle East constitutes a direct involvement in hostilities in the region.

These actions therefore contravene the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the letter says, which say only Congress has the power to declare war and authorize the deployment of troops, respectively.

“The involvement of the US military in these wars has not been authorized by the United States Congress as required by the US Constitution and law,” the lawmakers wrote. “Absent an imminent or actual sudden attack on the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces, the executive branch may not engage the armed forces of the United States in hostilities without the prior approval of Congress.”

The letter was also signed by Reps. André Carson (D-Indiana), Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota).

As Israel has stepped up attacks in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Iraq in the past month, threatening an all-out regional war, the US has sent thousands of additional troops to the Middle East. Last month, the US sent troops directly to Israel to help deploy a $1 billion high-altitude missile defense system. American bands also have direct he helped Israeli soldiers in locating targets for the Israeli military in Gaza.

“This current involvement, as well as any further involvement or deployment of Armed Forces in the Israeli government’s expanding regional war, falls within the definition of ‘hostilities’ in the War Powers Resolution and is not in response to an imminent or actual attack against the United States.” states. As such, these actions are unauthorized and subject to the authority of Congress under the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution,” the lawmakers said.

The letter presses the administration to reveal the extent of the US military’s involvement in Israel’s attacks and to explain the administration’s justification for directly striking Houthi forces in Yemen. last month and in January. Lawmakers warned that under the War Powers Resolution, Congress has the power to remove unauthorized troops and stop them from being involved in the region.

“The executive branch cannot continue to ignore the law without intervention from Congress,” they wrote. “These destructive wars must end, as must any unauthorized US involvement in them. The American public deserves a say in the matter of war. Thus, Congressional involvement and debate is necessary.”

Pundits and lawmakers have long said the Biden administration is violating numerous U.S. and international laws in its support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. This week, The Washington Post disclosure that the Biden administration is ignoring hundreds of reports of Israeli forces using US weapons to kill civilians in Gaza, despite the administration’s own guidance that such reports must be investigated and resolved quickly.