Recently signed by President Trump, the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) sought to place limits on US involvement in the Yemen War, and mandated new reports to Congress regarding involvement. President Trump said in his signing statement he won’t honor those limits, arguing that the war limits violate his role as commander in chief, and the reports put an undue burden on the Pentagon.
This week, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is taking another crack at defunding the war, with an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act of 2019, which is coming up for debate in the Senate. This amendment withdraws all funding, prohibiting the Pentagon from spending any money on the Yemen War.
This is the only realistic recourse Congress has to President Trump’s refusal to abide by NDAA limitations, The power of the purse allows Congress to defund conflicts, and Sen. Murphy says it is particularly vital in this case, because the war is unconstitutional and never authorized by Congress.
Previous debates over Yemen in Congress saw administration officials conceding that the war was never authorized, but the Pentagon also falsely claiming that the US wasn’t directly involved in the conflict.
Continued US involvement has become increasingly controversial, particularly as the civilian death toll skyrockets. Earlier this month, a Saudi war plane attacked a Yemeni school bus, killing at least 42 children. The bomb they dropped was made by Lockheed Martin, a US company.
This is the latest in a long line of massacres involving US-provided arms, US-provided planes, and Pentagon facilitated attacks. While Congressional leadership hasn’t always been eager to allow debate, there is substantial concern about US culpability in Saudi war crimes.
There is not a specific timetable for the vote on the Murphy Amendment, but business related to the Appropriations Act is expected to begin Monday afternoon, which means that the amendment will almost certainly come up for a vote in the next few days.
Those wishing to contact their Senators in support of the Murphy Amendment should do so as soon as possible. Contact information can be found here.
“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” I write that as the insult to those who pretend to it, as it was used by its original author, Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises.
Good to see this guy has perseverance but to demand the pentagon be 100% sure that no war crimes are being committed doesn’t go far enough. We should not be involved in this war whether it is “clean” or not and there should be no conditions on it not being defunded. And then do the same for Afghanistan and Syria.
I believe 90% of us feel just like you including no war with Russia . We are the ones starting all these wars . We don’t have to stick our nose in every argument . The worst part is we are on the wrong side more often than not too . It would take a heck of a good organization to recall all of congress all at once and force a antiwar agenda on congress that refuses to fund any war effort outside of our U;S; border . I know this plan is radical but these war mongers have forced the issue . They are trying to rule the world with our blood and our money .
Did you hear these idiots question Pompeo about Trump not being tough enough on Putin They all seemed to want Russia punished with a lot more sanctions because of the Skripal poisoning . We don’t even know who did the poisoning yet ?
A Saudi war plane attacked a school bus . Just where does Saudi Arabia make planes ?
I wrote both my senators, for what good it’ll do. Your may cut and paste if you like:
Subject: Murphy Amendment
Please support U.S. Senator Chris Murphy’s amendment to the FY 2019 Defense Appropriations bill that would cut off United States’ support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s war in Yemen until the Secretary of Defense certifies that the coalition’s air campaign is not violating international law and US policy related to the protection of civilians. I look forward to your reply.
It’s more theater by the duopoly. You have to trick people into thinking they are part of the process that decides who we kill. These spineless corporate slaves are merely systems managers and were loaded onto the slate we vote from by the corporate parties and their owners.
That’s a day in the life of a plutocracy.
What a strange situation. Trump suddenly wants to continue another war, and Chris Murphy has a sensible motion.
Not so strange, trump has continued, and escalated the war, while this is the 3rd congressional attempt to disengage the US since 2016.
israel will defund your campaign now
There have been 2 votes to disengage from Yemen , the June 2017 vote had 41 dems to pull out, 48 GOP to stay in. The March 2018 vote went 37 dems to pull out, 45 GOP to stay,very slight improvement for the warmongering GOP. If this bill could pass, the prize would be for Congress to end the fraudulent War on Terror resolution itself.