Dem Lawmakers Try to Pry Nuclear Football From President

LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST:

By Kody Fairfield

Foreign Policy (FP) is reporting that Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Edward Markey (MA) and Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) have introduced a bill to take away the President’s power to launch a nuclear first strike without a congressional declaration of war.

“Nuclear war poses the gravest risk to human survival. Yet, President Trump has suggested that he would consider launching nuclear attacks against terrorists,” Markey said in a statement. “Unfortunately, by maintaining the option of using nuclear weapons first in a conflict, U.S. policy provides him with that power. In a crisis with another nuclear-armed country, this policy drastically increases the risk of unintended nuclear escalation.”

The issue of Presidential first strike authority using the nuclear football, is a long drawn out, yet lightly legislated one. It had been talked about during the Obama administration, but never taken form until now.

Former Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, may have set the premise for which Lieu and Markey drew their inspiration for this bill. Clinton warned numerous times on the campaign trail that, “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”

It is a frightening reality that the U.S. now has a Commander-in-Chief who has demonstrated ignorance of the nuclear triad, stated his desire to be ‘unpredictable’ with nuclear weapons, and as President-elect was making sweeping statements about U.S. nuclear policy over Twitter. Congress must act to preserve global stability by restricting the circumstances under which the U.S. would be the first nation to use a nuclear weapon.” said Lieu.

Beyond the two legislators, FP reports that global disarmament groups and some former U.S. officials like William Perry, former secretary of defense are getting behind the bill as well. FP also mentions that its yet to be seen if a Republican majority House or Senate would support a bill that could be seen to undermine a Republican president, particularly given that some have already pushed to authorize more presidential military force in the form of new AUMFs.

Trump may not have helped the perception some may have to use the nuclear football appropriately, as during his campaign he did make some uneasy statements regarding the use of the nuclear arsenal.

• In a Republican primary debate, Trump appeared unsure of what the “Nuclear Triad” was.
• He urged U.S. allies in Asia like Japan and South Korea to build their own nukes, reversing decades of U.S. policy.
• In December, Trump declared, “Let it be an arms race” with Russia

WATCH TRUMP’S ISSUE ON THE NUCLEAR TRIAD:

Follow Kody on Twitter.

Send tips to EICfairfieldTLR@Gmail.com

WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO: