McDermott 'Insulted' by Obama Bypassing Congress

McDermott 'Insulted' by Obama Bypassing Congress

Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) slammed President Obama for saying he had the authority to authorize military action against ISIS but welcomed “support” from Congress during his speech on ISIS on MSNBC on Wednesday.

“I was insulted by it. He needs our support” McDermott said. And “George Bush proved you could pretty much do what you want…but if you do it without the support of the Congress, then you get blamed for it, and the president would be very, it would be very reckless in my view for him to go in and start doing all this without getting a vote from the Congress. To say ‘I already have the authority and I would be glad to have you guys come along’ is really kind of condescending.”

Representative John Garamendi (D-CA) added “I don’t think he has a choice but to have a vote. There is the thing called the Constitution. It says it is Congress that authorizes war. It’s very clear. We’re at war, and there’s also a thing called the War Powers Act, which he has actually initiated by sending a letter to the Congress.” And “the war powers act is clear. If you want a Constitutional crisis again, this is not about whether we have notified Congress about some detainees. This is about war and this is a very serious matter. Mr. President, come to Congress, get your authorization, he laid out a strategy. We should affirm that strategy if we want to, and go forward.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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