Bipartisan Lawmakers Decry Joe Biden’s Strikes on Yemen

Iran Houthis - Joe Biden Yemen
UK Ministry of Defence/Anadolu via Getty Images, Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Sean Moran

President Joe Biden’s decision to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen engendered fierce backlash from conservatives, libertarians, and progressives.

The United States and the United Kingdom on Thursday night launched strikes against more than a dozen Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

Conservatives and progressives largely opposed the strikes, warning about increasing escalation in the region and how this subverts the War Powers Act.

“The United States has been involved in hostilities in Yemen, in one form or another, for over 5 years now,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a libertarian-leaning Republican, said. “The sad reality is Congress frequently refuses to assert its authority. Twice under Paul Ryan, the War Powers Act w.r.t. Yemen was subverted through parliamentary tricks.”

He cited a 2018 resolution sponsored by him and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to force a vote on the U.S.’s support for the Saudi-led war against Yemen.

“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict. That is Article I of the Constitution,” Khanna posted on X. “I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House.”

He added:

Section 2C of the War Powers Act is clear: POTUS may only introduce the U.S. into hostilities after Congressional authorization or in a national emergency when the U.S. is under imminent attack. Reporting is not a substitute. This is a retaliatory, offensive strike.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) also chimed in:

.@POTUS can’t launch airstrikes in Yemen without congressional approval. This is illegal and violates Article I of the Constitution. The people do not want more of our taxpayer dollars going to endless war and the killing of civilians. Stop the bombing and do better by us.

“The U.S. has a solemn responsibility to protect our service members in harm’s way, and free and open laws of the sea. While I’m glad that congressional leadership was briefed, Congress alone authorizes war,” Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) remarked. “I’m also concerned this strike could lead to further escalation.”

“The Constitution matters, regardless of party affiliation,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said, “The Constitution is clear, only Congress has the power to declare war. President Biden must come to Congress and ask us to authorize this act of war.”

The costs of the war in Yemen have been immense. Brown University’s Cost of War Project says that since October 2002, at least 112,000 people have been killed in Yemen as a direct result of the war. The United Nations Development Programme believes that an estimated 377,000 people have died, nearly 60 percent of which are “indirect and caused by issues associated with conflict like lack of access to food, water, and healthcare.”

Policy experts raised concerns about the efficacy of the airstrikes against the Houthis and suggested that it may raise the risk of escalation in the already volatile region.

Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin Friedman said in a statement on Friday:

The strikes on the Houthis will not work. That is, they are very unlikely to stop Houthi attacks on shipping. The strikes’ probable failure will invite escalation to more violent means that may also fail. That is why striking the Houthis is a bad idea. They will leave policymakers looking feckless and thus tempted to up the ante to more pointless war to solve a problem better left to diplomatic means.

The virtue of these airstrikes is that it will make those who like using violence to protect the fictional “rules-based international order” feel good. It allows those who insist we “must do something more” on behalf of global shipping to have a “something.” But beyond the psychological health of elites, there is no payoff.

Tactically, the attacks on a dozen or so targets are far too limited to deprive the Houthis of their ability to use missiles and drones to target shipping off their coast. Strategically, the punishment inflicted on the Houthis is essentially a pinprick, which will do little to deter attacks that Houthi leaders obviously think has a large political payoff in enhancing their domestic legitimacy. In underlining their claim to be battling Israel and its U.S. backers in defense of Gaza, the airstrikes may actually be welcomed by Houthi leaders.

The fact is that the Houthi attacks on shipping have not been particularly effective, nor are they a major economic issue. The consequence is a minor price increase, borne primarily by European and Chinese consumers. That suggests that the imperative to solve this problem need not be Washington’s. But if it is, the diplomatic route seems best. Houthi demands to stop its attacks are to allow more aid into Gaza. Granting that, even if in secret, is far cheaper than war. It is, at minimum, an option worth exploring.

“President Biden’s decision to launch strikes on Yemen is reckless and contravenes the Constitution & the War Powers Act,” Demand Progress, a progressive group, said in a statement. “If he had enough time to organize a multi-country coalition and premeditate this operation, he had enough time to come to Congress.”

“If the objective is to stop Houthi attacks without escalating matters toward a full war, then bombing them has proven quite inefficient in the past. Just ask the…Saudis,” Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote.

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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