The Left can’t get over that Trump is in power. So they will try to stop him by any means necessary.
Now Democrats moved to tie Trump’s hands behind his back.
Senate GOP Blocks Kaine’s Cuba War Powers Gambit as Iran Clock Ticks
Senate Democrats made their latest attempt to handcuff President Trump’s foreign policy authority Monday, pushing a war powers resolution that would strip the Commander-in-Chief of the ability to take military action against Cuba without a congressional green light. Senate Republicans blocked it, staying in line behind the President on another front-burner national security question.
The resolution, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., would require the removal of U.S. forces from within or around Cuba and classified “the use of the United States Coast Guard and other components of the Armed Forces to conduct a blockade or quarantine of Cuba” as a hostile act requiring congressional authorization before it could proceed.
Cuba: 90 Miles Away, Long Overdue for Attention
The push was triggered by remarks President Trump made in March, when he made plain his intentions regarding the communist island sitting just 90 miles off the Florida coast: “All my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba — when will the United States do it? I do believe I’ll be the honor, having the honor of taking Cuba.”
No action against Cuba has yet been taken — the administration remains focused on the Iran conflict — but Democrats were eager to preemptively box the President in. It didn’t work.
The Bigger War Powers Picture
The Cuba resolution was, as Kaine acknowledged, a “momentary departure” from the Democratic Party’s relentless campaign to end American military engagement in the Middle East. Republicans have now swatted down five separate Democrat-led attempts to halt military operations in the region.
But cracks in Republican unity on the Iran question are beginning to show as the 60-day deadline under the War Powers Resolution Act approaches this week.
At least three Senate Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and John Curtis of Utah — have signaled they won’t extend the conflict past that threshold. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is working on an Authorization for the Use of Military Force that would give Congress a formal role in the conflict going forward.
Kaine, when asked by Fox News Digital whether he was surprised that most Republicans had held together, deflected:
“You gotta ask Republicans about their position.” He noted that the Iran deadline would force a reckoning by week’s end: “There are many saying that the 60-day time frame is relevant to them. We’ll see that because we’ll have an Iran war vote close to the 60-day [deadline] by the end of this week.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to side with Democrats before things escalate further. “The last thing working Americans need right now is another war, let alone one that’s 90 miles south of the United States,” he said on the floor.
“Republicans must get out in front of a looming catastrophe in Cuba before it gets even worse, as they should have done with Trump’s war in Iran.”
For Republican senators who believe the President needs flexibility to project American strength — and to address the Cuban communist regime that has destabilized the Western Hemisphere for decades — the vote to hold the line was an easy call.
