MoCs of Color Want to Limit Trump’s Nuclear Abilities

After Donald Trump’s my-nuclear-button-is-bigger-than-yours tweet to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on Tuesday, members of Congress have begun calling for action to limit Trump’s abilities to launch a nuclear strike without oversight or congressional approval. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) has been notably outspoken on the issue, tweeting, “Congress needs to pass this Monday — on the first day of votes in 2018 — legislation restricting Trump’s ability to launch a preemptive nuclear strike without authorization.” Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) yesterday tweeted, “#HR669 continues to gain support from Members of Congress who agree that Congress must be a check on @POTUS authority to use nuclear weapons. Is yours one of them? Check here: http://bit.ly/2qm9OuN . #NoFirstUse.” This was in reference to the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, introduced by Lieu in January 2017 -- which has 73 co-sponsors (including one Republican) -- to prohibit the president from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. And in October, former Congressman John Conyers had also introduced a bill to stop the president from launching a preemptive strike against North Korea unless he first receives authorization from Congress. That bill had 61 co-sponsors (including two members of the GOP), and more than half of them were members of color. Read more about their efforts here.