Sen. Mike Lee: Bring the troops home!

[Warlord]

My second favorite senator!

--
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) added that Trump should "de-escalate" and come to Congress on any potential next steps.

"Whether further military action is warranted is a question that should be answered by Congress. The U.S. should seek to deescalate these raised tensions and I will continue to push to bring our troops back from the region," Lee said.
--

Well done Mike Lee.

[oyarde]

Bring the troops home . I agree .

[RonZeplin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR_HKsJl4i0

[pcosmar]

Bring the troops home . I agree .

I agree,, Bring them ALL home.

ain't seeing it happen.

:(

[Brian4Liberty]

Mike Lee was just giving a press statement after a Senate Iran briefing, and he was giving them hell about unconstitutional war and Fox News (Cavuto show) cut him off...

[Brian4Liberty]

Mike Lee back on. He is fired up!

[AngryCanadian]

Looks like the Trump bots haven't posted here interesting..
But i agree with the Sen as well.

[Valli6]

So why is Neil Cavuto making it sound like Rand and Mike Lee are two republican holdouts AGAINST Trump - when all the responses I've seen from Rand suggest he is relieved that Trump is willing to de-escalate things?!

What I heard from Mike Lee (before they cut him off) sounds like they are angry because OTHER people involved (senior administration officials aka deep-state types), are keeping information from them and treating them like it's none of their business - and that they have no intention of ever respecting the fact that only congress can declare war.

I feel that Cavuto was actively trying to obscure the truth about what Lee and Paul were saying, and just trying to equate them with anti-Trump, fake anti-war democrats. Am I misunderstanding something?

Honestly, that is the message I would've walked away with from Cavuto's explanation, if I were not already familiar with both senators beliefs!
:mad:

[EBounding]

1215021266400362496
1215027650412122112

[AngryCanadian]

1215021266400362496
1215027650412122112

If democrats want to impeach Trump again now its a good time.

[Brian4Liberty]

Mike Lee referenced Federalist 69 at one point. Here is the relevant excerpt:


The President is to be the "commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States. He is to have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment; to recommend to the consideration of Congress such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; to convene, on extraordinary occasions, both houses of the legislature, or either of them, and, in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, to adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and to commission all officers of the United States." In most of these particulars, the power of the President will resemble equally that of the king of Great Britain and of the governor of New York. The most material points of difference are these: -- First. The President will have only the occasional command of such part of the militia of the nation as by legislative provision may be called into the actual service of the Union. The king of Great Britain and the governor of New York have at all times the entire command of all the militia within their several jurisdictions. In this article, therefore, the power of the President would be inferior to that of either the monarch or the governor. Second. The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. In this respect his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as first General and admiral of the Confederacy; while that of the British king extends to the declaring of war and to the raising and regulating of fleets and armies -- all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.1 The governor of New York, on the other hand, is by the constitution of the State vested only with the command of its militia and navy. But the constitutions of several of the States expressly declare their governors to be commanders-in-chief, as well of the army as navy; and it may well be a question, whether those of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, in particular, do not, in this instance, confer larger powers upon their respective governors, than could be claimed by a President of the United States.
...
https://www.constitution.org/fed/federa69.htm

[tommyrp12]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDVVIO5OH0

[Swordsmyth]

1215021266400362496
1215027650412122112
You left one out:

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1215024032149655552

1215024032149655552

I wonder why.

[phill4paul]

Mike Lee was just giving a press statement after a Senate Iran briefing, and he was giving them hell about unconstitutional war and Fox News (Cavuto show) cut him off...

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?542735-Rand-Paul-Mike-Lee-rip-administration-over-Iran-briefing

[Anti Globalist]

The senator isn't wrong about that.

[Valli6]

Rand tweeted a brief clip which clarifies. The subject of their complaint was not made clear by Cavuto.
1215067081668005893
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1215067081668005893

[Warlord]

Mike Lee made the NY Times:


Mike Lee, a G.O.P. Senator, Calls Administration’s Iran Briefing ‘Insulting’

WASHINGTON — Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a libertarian-leaning Republican, has always been a loud but lonely voice in his party clamoring to rein in presidential war powers, so it came as little surprise on Wednesday when he questioned President Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s most important general.

But as Mr. Lee emerged from a closed-door, classified briefing with Mr. Trump’s national security team, he launched into an uncharacteristically indignant tirade that went well beyond his usual staid constitutional arguments about war powers. He blasted the administration for what he called a shoddy briefing on the president’s strategy on Iran, delivered in what he described as an “insulting and demeaning” way by administration officials he said were unwilling to engage in a genuine discussion about a possible military escalation in the Middle East.

The message, Mr. Lee said, was: “Do not debate, do not discuss the issue of the appropriateness of further military intervention against Iran. If you do, you will be emboldening Iran.”

The main target of Mr. Lee’s ire during the session, according to people who attended it and witnessed the contentious exchanges, was Mr. Esper, whom some of the people described as flippant as lawmakers raised serious questions about military action against Iran.

Mr. Lee emerged praising Mr. Trump for his restraint and saying that he supported the president. But then he launched into a fiery broadside rarely seen in the Senate against Mr. Trump’s advisers.

“They were in the process of telling us that we need to be good little boys and girls and not debate this in public,” Mr. Lee said. “I find that absolutely insane. It’s un-American, it’s unconstitutional and it’s wrong.”

At one point, he said, as he repeatedly questioned the officials about whether there was ever a circumstance in which they would come to Congress for authorization of military action against Iran, one responded, “I’m sure we could think of something.”

Mr. Lee has long been willing to cross party lines on the topic of preserving congressional authority, particularly on the issue of war powers. But his angry outburst illustrated the risks for Mr. Trump of assuming — as has almost always been the case in the past — that congressional Republicans will feel so loyal to him that they will swallow their reservations about his policies and stay silent, especially on military matters.

And it suggested that when it comes to the president’s strategy in Iran, there are at least some cracks in Republican support, as administration officials continue to offer few details on the intelligence that led them to authorize the killing of General Suleimani.

Since arriving in the Senate in 2011, Mr. Lee has been an outspoken backer of attempts to reclaim Congress’s authority, particularly around issues of war and peace. One of the founders of the Article One Project, an initiative intended specifically to enable “congressional rehabilitation,” Mr. Lee broke party ranks last year to join Democrats in leading a war powers resolution directing Mr. Trump to cut off military aid to Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen.

Wednesday’s briefing, he said, inspired him to again defect from his party and support a war powers resolution led by Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, that would limit Mr. Trump’s war powers on Iran. Mr. Lee said he was initially unsure whether he would support the measure, citing some qualms with the wording of the legislation.

“I can say that after that briefing — that briefing is what changed my mind,” he said.

Almost all of Mr. Lee’s Republican colleagues appeared to disagree on Wednesday. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters it was “one of the best briefings” he had ever attended, calling the information the officials relayed “crystal clear.”

But Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, another libertarian who has worked to insist on congressional war powers, said he agreed with Mr. Lee and would also support Mr. Kaine’s resolution.

“Today, this is Senator Lee and I saying we are not abdicating our duty,” Mr. Paul said.

The development was potentially significant, since a War Powers Resolution needs only 51 votes to pass. Republicans control 53 votes in the Senate and Democrats 47, though it is unclear whether all Democrats would support such a measure.

Mr. Lee’s remarks were lauded by Democrats, who have criticized the administration’s briefings and notifications to Congress.

“Thank you,” Mr. Kaine said, calling them out by name, “longtime champions of the need for Congress to check presidents’ war-making powers. It’s our constitutional duty.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/us/politics/senator-mike-lee-iran-briefing.html

[axiomata]

Usually Lee takes more of a supporting role to Rand Paul's stand on these issues in the Senate. Good to see him taking the more forceful lead.