Democratic Representative Ted Lieu and Senator Ed Markey stated on Tuesday that they are going to reintroduce a bill that will stop the President from being able to launch a first strike nuclear attack without first having congressional approval, The Hill writes.
According to Lieu, the bill is needed because Present Trump is “unpredictable and rash.”
“Trump’s brand is to be unpredictable and rash, which is exactly what you don’t want the person who possesses the nuclear football to be,” Lieu said, according to a press release. “We introduced this bill under the Obama administration but Trump’s presidency has highlighted just how scary it is that any president has the authority to launch a nuke without congressional consultation.”
His statement also cited a tweet from President Donald Trump where he taunts North Korea over the size of his nuclear button.
Markey added in the statement that no president “should have the power to launch a first use nuclear first strike absent such an attack without explicit Congressional approval.”
Lieu and Markey introduced similar legislation previously, but it has stalled in Congress.
The legislation, “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019,” will be introduced by Lieu in the House and Markey in the Senate.
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