Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is a fierce supporter of President Donald Trump, on Tuesday stood in defense of his bipartisan plan that would deny the President using military force against Iran without the approval of the Congress, Fox News informed.
“We’re against forever wars and we don’t think that any president should be able to keep the United States in war or any type of conflict beyond 60 days,” Gaetz, a Republican, told Fox News on Tuesday.
The Florida lawmaker joined forces with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to craft an amendment that would prevent federal funds from being used for any military force against Iran without an approval from Congress. Such a proposal might put an end to the old authorizations Congress adopted in 2001 to fight in Afghanistan and a 2002 blessing to invade Iraq. Three presidents, including Trump, have employed these Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUFMs) for military interventions spanning nearly two decades.
Khanna and Gaetz introduced the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last month.
Khanna, unlike Gaetz, is well known for his fierce opposition to the President.
“The amendment would allow the president to defend our troops, defend our allies but after a couple of months he’d have to come back to Congress for approval,” Gaetz told Fox News.
“Our amendment stands against the proposition of endless wars,” Gaetz said.
“I don’t believe that a 2001 authorization to use military force is applicable in the year 2019 or beyond. I think we need to update the conditions and terms where we would send America’s bravest patriots into battle and I think we could do that here,” he added.
Many republicans were against this preposition as it will restrict the President.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., stated that it was “unacceptable” for Iran to shoot down the U.S. drone. However, when asked what the U.S. should do to retaliate, McCarthy replied that “the president will have options before him.”
McCarthy also said Trump “has the current authority” to wage war if necessary, based on the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Trump Administration needed to proceed with “measured responses.”
Gaetz told Fox News, “I represent the district that has the highest concentration of active duty military in the country, and so it’s my constituents who have to go first, fight hardest, and I have seen my entire life the impacts of these endless wars, the broken marriages, the interrupted parenting, the tough goodbyes at airports, the bargaining with God to get your loved ones back.”
“And so, when we do go to war, my constituents will go, they’ll fight and they’ll win, but I want to make sure we’re at least going for the right reason and not just because this town seems to be kind of itching to go to war,” he continued.
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