Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) may be one of President Donald Trump’s biggest backers in the U.S. House of Representatives, but that did not prevent him from voting with Democrats to limit his ability to make war with Iran on Thursday.
Gaetz was one of three Republicans in the House who voted affirmatively on the war powers resolution that is meant to prevent President Trump from going to war with Iran without a formal declaration from Congress.
“I support the president’s move to kill Soleimani, but I do not support a forever war in the Middle East,” Gaetz said about his vote.
I represent more troops than any other member of this body. I buried one of them earlier today at Arlington.
If our servicemembers have the courage to fight and die in these wars, Congress ought to have the courage to vote for or against them.
I’m voting for this resolution. pic.twitter.com/cSCBG7CmIm
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) January 9, 2020
Aside from Gaetz’s maverick vote on the issue, the vote largely fell on party lines and involved the usual partisan squabbling indicative of the Washington D.C. swamp.
“Members of Congress have serious, urgent concerns about the administration’s decision to engage in hostilities against Iran and about its lack of strategy moving forward,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “Our concerns were not addressed by the president’s insufficient War Powers Act notification and by the administration’s briefing today.”
“The American people do not want war with Iran. With the measure before us today, we are denying the president the authority to wage such a war,” said Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D-NY).
“It will never be sent to the president, and it will never limit his constitutional authority to defend the American people. This is the type of resolution that we invite the soapbox derby to the Capitol,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said about the resolution that he calls “toothless.”
Gaetz has been profiled by Liberty Conservative News as a rising liberty star over his support of an “America First” foreign policy, and his opposition to endless war.
Gaetz is leading a bipartisan peace coalition to bring the troops home from the Middle East:
“The U.S. House voted on Friday to approve an amendment to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would block funding for military force against Iran without explicit Congressional approval…
These pro-peace Republicans are led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who was a primary co-sponsor of the amendment. Gaetz is a prominent Trump supporter who wants the President to pursue a non-interventionist foreign policy, rather than the belligerent foreign policy of his predecessors.
“If my war-hungry colleagues — some of whom have already suggested that we invade Venezuela, North Korea and probably a few other countries before lunch time tomorrow — if they’re so certain in their case against Iran, let them bring their authorization to use military force against Iran to this very floor,” Gaetz said on the House floor.”
The future of the liberty movement in Congress is bright with Gaetz at the helm leading the way for the cause of non-interventionism.
