“If anyone were doing to the United States what we are doing to Cuba, we would definitely regard it as an act of war,” Sen. Tim Kaine said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. His resolution did not survive the day.
The Republican-led Senate voted 51 to 47, almost entirely along party lines, to uphold a point of order from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. That procedural move blocked a Democratic war powers resolution that would have barred President Donald Trump from ordering military action against Cuba without approval from Congress. It was the first Senate vote on Cuba.
Why Democrats moved
Kaine, a Virginia Democrat and a lead sponsor, argued that the United States is already in hostilities with Cuba. His reasoning: American force, mainly the Coast Guard, is being used in what he called “a very devastating economic blockade” of the island. Sens. Ruben Gallego and Adam Schiff joined Kaine as sponsors of the measure, which would also have required forces to be pulled from in or around Cuba.
Gallego pointed to the cost of the Iran war. “As if the disaster of the Iran War and the resulting spike in oil prices weren’t enough, Trump is threatening to intervene in Cuba as well,” he said.
Trump has threatened Cuba’s leaders several times in recent months. In March, speaking at an investment forum in Miami, he said “Cuba is next.” Those warnings come while the U.S. is fighting a war with Iran and after American forces abducted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in early January, operations Congress never authorised.
Republican response
Scott said a war powers vote did not fit the facts because Trump has not sent troops against Havana. Afterward he posted on social media: “If we want REAL reform in Cuba, the illegitimate Castro/Diaz-Canel regime must fall.” Republicans argued generally that no active hostilities exist and that limiting the president’s powers was not needed.
Two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted with the Democrats. One Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted with Scott to kill the measure.
The White House says Trump’s actions fall within his right and obligation as commander in chief to protect the country. The Constitution gives Congress alone the power to declare war, but that limit does not cover short operations or responses to an immediate threat.
Democrats have repeatedly failed in both the Senate and the House to force Trump to seek authorisation for his military operations, and Tuesday’s vote added one more loss.
Sources
- US Senate blocks bid to stop Trump using military against Cuba
- Senate Republicans block Democratic resolution to curb Trump’s military authority over Cuba – Harici
- Dem plot to limit Trump war powers on Cuba fails as GOP falls in line with military action abroad
