President Biden remained notably silent on Friday after authorizing airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Syria on Thursday night as some of his Democratic allies call for an explanation of a move that raises the stakes for his nuclear negotiation efforts with Iran.
During former President Barack Obama's term, congressional Democrats were often frustrated by his targeted drone and other military strikes on extremist organization operatives and targets. They attempted to negotiate a new force-authorization measure to cover targeted strikes but could not even agree on the definitions of key terms with Republicans, the Obama White House, and even themselves.
“The American people deserve to hear the administration’s rationale for these strikes,” Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said in a statement. “Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances. Congress must be fully briefed on this matter expeditiously."
The Pentagon late Thursday characterized the retaliatory strikes against infrastructure used by militant groups Kait’ib Hezbollah and Kait’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada as “defensive” in nature.
