Strange Bedfellows: MAGA and Progressive Lawmakers Unite to Lambast Biden's Attacks on Houthis

US representatives and senators of all stripes have subjected the president to sharp criticism over his strikes in Yemen.

US President Joe Biden's recent air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen have provoked cross-party criticism in Congress.

Representatives Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), as well as other 12 House Democrats and six Republicans, have joined ranks to express "serious concerns" about the "unauthorized" strikes.

"We believe the US' unauthorized strikes in Yemen violate the Constitution and US statute," wrote the lawmakers, arguing that Congress has the sole power to declare war and authorize military action.

Addressing Biden himself, they continued: "We urge your Administration to seek authorization from Congress before involving the US in another conflict in the Middle East, potentially provoking Iran-backed militias that may threaten US military service members already in the region, and risking escalation of a wider regional war," the letter said, as quoted by Axios.

Since January 12, the US and its allies have been carrying out strikes with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs against the Houthis in Yemen.

The US-led coalition has conducted 11 strikes against the Shiite militia so far in response to the Houthis targeting Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea in a bid to force Tel Aviv to halt military actions against Palestinians in Gaza.

Earlier this week, another bipartisan group of senators questioned Washington's effort to protect foreign ships in the Red Sea.

"As Commander-in-Chief, you have the power and responsibility to defend the United States under Article II of the Constitution," a letter signed by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) said. "However, most vessels transiting through the Red Sea are not US ships, which raises questions about the extent to which these authorities can be exercised."

Commenting on the strikes on Yemen targets, the lawmakers drew attention to the fact that "there is no current congressional authorization for offensive US military action against the Houthis."

"[U]nless there is a need to repel a sudden attack, the Constitution requires that the United States not engage in military action absent of a favorable vote of Congress," the lawmakers insisted.

While non-interventionists on both sides of the US political aisle are urging Biden to show restraint, the hawks are chastising the president for not doing enough against the Yemen Shiite group.

For his part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lambasted the president for "failing to sufficiently exercise the authority he has."

"[Biden's] played whack-a-mole against warehouses and launch sites, but left the terrorists' air defenses and command-and-control facilities intact," argued McConnell.

McConnell highlighted the 2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) that empowered then-US President George W. Bush to kick off the Iraq War. In 2023, US lawmakers sought to strip US presidents of the AUMF; however, the legislative measure got stuck in the US Congress.

Not only US lawmakers but also right- and left-wing American scholars have recently warned the Biden administration against escalating tensions in the Middle East.

They particularly argued that the cost of the global trade disruption caused by the Red Sea crisis would be far less than the cost of the US operations against Yemen, especially given the risk of a clash with Iran, which traditionally supported Shiite militias in the small Middle Eastern state. A larger regional war is looming, they warned.