Only a president as stubborn and heedless as Donald Trump could have committed himself so implacably to such an unpopular and inexplicable war — with such an unsavory and murderous ally — as to stir an otherwise submissive Senate to actively assert war powers it has blithely ceded to the executive branch for at least … Read more
Senators vowing to pass legislation to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi war in Yemen that has “teeth” will need to craft something tougher than the mostly symbolic resolution that is currently headed for a floor vote. Last week’s procedural vote on S.J. Res 54, introduced in the Senate by Bernie Sanders, represented an extraordinary … Read more
The nearly universal revulsion that greeted the latest expression of Donald Trump’s foreign policy offers Democratic leaders a golden opportunity to review and renounce those elements of it that they have historically shared. Trump’s indecent embrace of Saudi leader and journalist-executioner Mohammad bin Salman, after all, is different in scale but not in substance from … Read more
There is a clear path to an up-or-down vote on ending U.S. complicity with the Saudi war in Yemen. It starts with House Democrats, as soon as they are in power, passing a strong bill demanding an end to U.S. support to the Saudi-led coalition’s catastrophic bombing of Yemen – and invoking the War Powers … Read more
After the most inane opening of any official White House statement ever – “America First! The world is a very dangerous place!” – the most urgent thing Donald Trump had to say today about his relationship with Saudi Arabia is that the horrific Saudi-led war in Yemen is Iran’s fault. Never mind that Saudi Crown Prince … Read more
The legislative branch responded to the 9/11 attacks by ceding vast amounts of power to the executive branch. Congressional oversight has become a sad farce. Donald Trump is an imperial president. So you would think it would be huge news if members of both parties, in both the House and Senate, joined together in significant … Read more