{"id":8408,"date":"2019-10-16T19:06:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T02:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=8408"},"modified":"2019-10-17T04:32:02","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T11:32:02","slug":"post2-65","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=8408","title":{"rendered":"“House Republicans joined Democrats in condemning Trump\u2019s actions in Syria”, Vox"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ella Nilsen<\/span> and Li Zhou,\u00a0<\/span>

Congress is pushing back on Trump\u2019s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In a bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump, the US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning his decision to pull United States troops out of Syria, abandoning US allies in the region as Turkish troops have moved in.<\/p>\n

The 354-60 vote on the resolution Wednesday was largely symbolic, but it signaled the widespread disapproval among lawmakers for Trump\u2019s latest controversial foreign policy move. It came as fighting continued<\/a> in northeastern Syria between Turkey and Kurdish fighters, who have been a key US ally in fighting the terror group ISIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt President Trump\u2019s hands, American leadership has been laid low, and American foreign policy has become nothing more than a tool to advance his own interests,\u201d said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D-NY), who introduced the resolution. \u201cToday we make clear that the Congress is a coequal branch of government and we want nothing to do with this disastrous policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s decision to pull out American troops pleased Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, who promptly moved his troops in to fight Kurdish militias he views as a threat. But it inflamed both congressional Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. This follows a pattern; Republicans have been most willing to rebuke Trump on his foreign policy choices, including a vote to end the Saudi war in Yemen. Some who have otherwise defended Trump throughout his impeachment inquiry in the House have been quick to criticize him on the chaos he\u2019s causing in the region \u2014 fearing it will spur a reemergence of ISIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire region will suffer the consequences of some very bad actors getting back on the battlefield again because of that,\u201d said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on the Senate floor Wednesday. \u201cThe administration clearly did not coordinate with the State Department, with the Department of Defense, with what was happening in the region, to make sure we were securing those fighters and preparing for that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The non-binding resolution reiterates the House\u2019s opposition to the pullout of Syria troops and calls on Turkey to stop its military action in the country. It also asks Trump to present a plan to combat and defeat ISIS in the region. Both the House and Senate<\/a> are considering sanctions packages<\/a> in the coming days that go beyond the White House\u2019s proposed punitive measures against Turkey.<\/p>\n

It appears Trump is shutting down communication with Congress on Syria; the White House abruptly canceled a bipartisan all-member Congressional briefing on the situation, per a tweet from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.<\/p>\n

“I am deeply concerned that the White House has canceled an all-Member classified briefing on the dangerous situation the President has caused in Syria, denying the Congress its right to be informed as it makes decisions about our national security.”<\/p>\n

However, Pelosi and other Democratic Congressional leaders still met with Trump on Wednesday, during which Pelosi said the president had a \u201cmeltdown.\u201d Upon exiting the White House, she and others recounted an explosive meeting with Trump. Pelosi told reporters outside the White House<\/a> that Trump appeared \u201cshaken up\u201d by the House vote during a meeting she and other Democratic leaders had with the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we couldn\u2019t continue in the meeting, because he was just not relating to the reality of it,\u201d Pelosi said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) clarified that Democrats had walked out after Trump called Pelosi a \u201cthird-rate politician.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we witnessed on the part of the president was a meltdown,\u201d Pelosi added. \u201cSad to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Predictably, the White House saw the meeting differently, per a statement White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham to PBS NewsHour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president was measured, factual and decisive, while Speaker Pelosi\u2019s decision to walk out was baffling, but not surprising,\u201d Grisham said. \u201cWhile Democratic leadership chose to storm out and get in front of the cameras to whine, everyone else in the meeting chose to stay in the room and work on behalf of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

At an earlier press conference Wednesday, Trump appeared to endorse Russia taking on more of a role in the region, another viewpoint that alarmed congressional Republicans. A bipartisan Senate version of the House resolution condemning Trump\u2019s move was also introduced Tuesday. But there\u2019s not a lot of teeth in these resolutions.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s actions on Syria have prompted a rare breaking point with Senate Republicans<\/h3>\n

Senate Republicans don\u2019t break with Trump on much, but the president\u2019s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria has prompted significant pushback from several of his allies in the upper chamber. Although Republicans appeared to reconcile some concerns earlier this week, statements that Trump made during a press appearance on Wednesday have seemingly caused the conflict to flare up once more.<\/p>\n

During an event with the Italian president<\/a>, Trump sought to defend his decision to remove troops from the region, noting that the United States\u2019 Kurdish allies are \u201cnot angels\u201d and that the ongoing clashes between Turkey and Syria were \u201cnot between Turkey and the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of Trump\u2019s stalwart supporters in the Senate, shot back quickly regarding the president\u2019s comments. \u201cIf the president did say that Turkey\u2019s invasion is no concern to us, I find that to be an outstanding \u2014 an astonishing statement which I completely and totally reject,\u201d he told NBC News<\/a>. Graham elaborated on his criticism in a Twitter thread, emphasizing that Trump\u2019s statements could lead to a \u201cdisaster worse than President Obama\u2019s decision to leave Iraq.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I hope President Trump is right in his belief that Turkeys invasion of Syria is of no concern to us, abandoning the Kurds won\u2019t come back to haunt us, ISIS won\u2019t reemerge, and Iran will not fill the vacuum created by this decision.<\/p>\n

However, I firmly believe that if President Trump continues to make such statements this will be a disaster worse than President Obama\u2019s decision to leave Iraq.”<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Trump\u2019s decision to remove troops from Syria has previously prompted questions from many Republicans who have favored American intervention in the region and voted to preserve it. Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) were among those who argued that Trump\u2019s actions were a \u201cbetrayal\u201d of the United States\u2019 Kurdish allies, when he made the announcement last week.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump said he would impose sanctions on Turkey in an effort to curb the country\u2019s military onslaught in northern Syria, a move that has not appeared to deter Turkish forces. Trump\u2019s decision appeased some Republicans including Graham, however, prompting them to applaud the president\u2019s attempts to target Turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the events that have happened at this point, it\u2019s probably the most you can do in the short term,\u201d Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s comments on Wednesday and the ongoing military offensive from Turkey have sustained renewed pushback in the Senate, though. In addition to the Republican uproar, Senate Democratic leaders are calling for lawmakers to back the House\u2019s bipartisan resolution condemning the President\u2019s decision to remove troops in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanctions against Erdo\u011fan are fine and good. President Erdo\u011fan should be punished for his military adventurism and his aggression. But sanctions alone are insufficient,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday.<\/p>\n

McConnell expressed hopes that a meeting between Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Erdo\u011fan would lead to a resolution of the current conflict. \u201cI\u2019m sorry that we are where we are. I hope the Vice President and the Secretary of State can somehow repair the damage,\u201d McConnell said during a weekly press briefing.<\/p>\n

Vox<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ella Nilsen and Li Zhou,\u00a0Oct 16, 2019 Congress is pushing back on Trump\u2019s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria. In a bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump, the US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning his decision to pull United States troops out of Syria, abandoning US allies in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8408"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8416,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8408\/revisions\/8416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}