Biden elicits praise, rebuke after Houthi payback airstrikes
The president’s decision was met with a mix of condemnation from progressive Democrats and exasperation from Republican defense hawks.
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A US-led coalition on Thursday launched more than a dozen strikes against sites used by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in the first military response to ongoing and escalating attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The joint operation was in partnership with the United Kingdom and supported by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Bahrain.
“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”
The Houthi strikes were met with a mix of condemnation from progressive Democrats who called the operation unconstitutional and exasperation from Republican defense hawks who had been publicly calling for more aggressive posture from the Biden administration for weeks.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) demanded the White House work with Congress before continuing the airstrikes.
“The United States cannot risk getting entangled into another decades-long conflict without congressional authorization,” he said.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) called the strikes a violation of Article I of the Constitution. And Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said the president needed to come to Congress first before launching the strikes.
A US official confirmed to Once Upon a Hill that the administration conducted congressional notifications as appropriate and consistent with the War Powers Act, the 1973 law intended to constrain the president’s power to enter the US into an armed conflict without approval from Congress.
The Act requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and prohibits them from remaining for more than 60 days unless Congress authorizes the use of military force.
Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement he supported the strikes but called in the Biden administration to engage in diplomatic efforts to avoid escalation to a broader war.
Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat who is the ranking member of House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Operations, said in a separate statement that the decision to strike the Houthis was necessary to maintain stability and security in the region.
“The U.S. has dealt with this aggression for far too long, and it is in our nation’s interests to maintain the free flow of commerce,” Gallego, who is running for the Senate, added. “Terrorism has no safe harbor anywhere.”
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the president’s response “proportional.”
On the other side of the aisle, congressional Republicans had a too-little-too-late vibe in their messaging.
“This action by US and British forces is long overdue, and we must hope these operations indicate a true shift in the Biden administration’s approach to Iran and its proxies that are engaging in such evil and wreaking such havoc,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. “America must always project strength, especially in these dangerous times.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) characterized the strikes as overdue in his statement as well.
“I am hopeful these operations mark an enduring shift in the Biden Administration’s approach to Iran and its proxies,” he added. “To restore deterrence and change Iran’s calculus, Iranian leaders themselves must believe that they will pay a meaningful price unless they abandon their worldwide campaign of terror.”
The president is in the unenviable (and unfair, if you ask him and his aides) damned-if-you-damned-if-you-don’t position.
The progressive left—fueled by a grassroots movement who already thinks he’s a merciless warmonger because Israel is killing too many civilians in the Hamas war on his watch—too often flattens the nuance out of US foreign policy in way that reeks of bad-faith opportunism. This is especially true of their constituents who get their news and views from TikTok feeds and X bots. And it could cost him an electorally fatal share of a coalition he’ll need to win reelection.
And on the right, when Trump, with his authoritarian bluster and penchant for simplifying foreign policy to picking up the phone and playing nice with dictators (he wants to be one, after all), everything Biden does will be interpreted as weak.
But I’m sure the politics, as titillating as they are for folks like me to parse, are of secondary concern to the commander-in-chief.
Top of his mind is making sure this situation doesn’t spill into a broader conflict, a point a senior administration official raised in a call with reporters late Thursday to discuss the operations.
“There is no intent to escalate the situation,” the official said.
Nonetheless, the Houthis have vowed there will be retaliation for the strikes.
A senior military official said if they do, it won’t be a surprise.
“The US and UK forces that participated in these strikes remain well prepared to defend themselves, as well as to continue to contribute to the defense of maritime traffic and other military vessels as part of the coalition in the Red Sea Bab el Mandeb and Gulf of Aden.“
ICYMI
This week in COURIER: Conservatives ground House business to a halt on Wednesday in protest of a deal Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to fully fund the government. Now those far-right members are pressuring Johnson to back away from the deal.
In my weekly COURIER column, I wrote about how House Republicans are following the same playbook that made 2023 one of the least productive congressional sessions in modern history.
Biden to cancel more student debt: The Biden administration announced that borrowers enrolled in the SAVE income-driven repayment program who took out less than $12,000 in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years will get their remaining student debt cancelled immediately.
“It’s part of our ongoing efforts to act as quickly as possible to give more borrowers breathing room so they can get out from under the burden of student loan debt, move on with their lives and pursue their dreams,” the president said in a statement.
The administration launched the SAVE program after the Supreme Court overturned President Biden’s plan last summer to cancel up to $20,000 of student loan debt for eligible borrowers. Biden said almost seven million borrowers are enrolled in the program with nearly four million who have a $0 monthly payment.
Happenings
Here’s what’s on tap in Congress and across national politics today:
ON CAPITOL HILL
9 a.m. The House will meet with first votes scheduled at 10:15 a.m. and last votes expected at 10:45 a.m.
The Senate is out.
AT THE WHITE HOUSE
9 a.m. President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing.
12:10 p.m. The president will depart the White House en route to Allentown, Pennsylvania arriving at 1:15 p.m. Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton and National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby will hold a Q&A with reporters aboard Air Force One.
1:50 p.m. President Biden will visit several small businesses in the Allentown area.
4:25 p.m. The president will depart Allentown to return to the White House, arriving at 5:35 p.m.
7 p.m. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak about the importance of interfaith collaboration during the MLK Shabbat: Visions of Freedom and Justice service at Sixth & I synagogue.
Vice President Kamala Harris will receive briefings and hold internal staff meetings.
All times Eastern
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