Booker: Both parties 'feckless' on Trump war powers
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- Cory Booker called both parties "feckless" on CNN's State of the Union for letting presidential war powers expand, arguing Congress's inaction could embolden Trump to unilaterally attack Cuba or North Korea after Venezuela and Iran.
- The US Senate rejected a war powers resolution 47-53 the day before Booker's appearance, largely along party lines, and a House Democratic measure to halt US action in Iran also failed without Republican support.
- The US-Iran war began February 28 with a missile strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Booker called it the biggest US military engagement since the war in Afghanistan, with 13 American service members killed as of Sunday.
- Trump has ordered military strikes in Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iran since Christmas and renewed threats to seize Greenland by military force if necessary.
- The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for two weeks, producing what Booker described as "the biggest gumming up of the oil markets we have ever seen."
Why it matters: With both war powers resolutions failing (Senate 47-53, House without GOP support), there is no institutional brake on Trump's military campaign — one that has already killed 13 US service members, closed the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks, and could now expand to new targets, permanently shifting war-making authority from Congress to the presidency.
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