Tell Congress: Don’t give Donald Trump a blank check for war

Tell the Senate: "Don’t give Donald Trump a blank check for war. Vote no on the Corker-Kaine AUMF." Add your name:

Last week, Donald Trump launched an unauthorized and unconstitutional attack on Syria. Now some senators want to give him a blank check for global, endless war.1 It's not just that Trump bombed Syria without congressional approval. He is a reckless xenophobe who is building a war cabinet, wants to destroy the Iran deal and has a terrifying attraction to nuclear weapons. Congress should be doing everything it can to rein him in, but instead Sens. Bob Corker and Tim Kaine just introduced a brand new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that would give Trump room to wage war wherever, whenever and against whomever he wants. Congress may vote on this dangerous resolution as soon as next week.2 That's why CREDO is joining our friends at Win Without War to make our massive opposition heard now. Tell the Senate: Don’t give Donald Trump a blank check for war. Vote no on the Corker-Kaine AUMF. Click here to sign the petition. Congress passed the current AUMF in the days following 9/11. Presidents Bush and Obama used it to justify warrantless surveillance, indefinite detention, the lethal use of drones and more.3 CREDO has been working with progressive champion Rep. Barbara Lee to repeal that AUMF for years. With Trump in the White House, there is even more reason to repeal it, and even more reason not to pass a new AUMF that would take us further in the direction of endless war. The Corker-Kaine AUMF doesn't fix what's broken with the 2001 AUMF and could serve to further embolden Trump. It codifies that the United States is at war with “terrorism” anywhere the White House deems we should fight.4 Just as Presidents Bush and Obama did before him, Trump can interpret this terrifying AUMF as a blank check to wage war against ISIS and several other “terrorist” organizations across the globe in whatever way he deems necessary – including the massive deployment of ground troops in Iraq or Syria. The Republican extremists in Congress are already enabling the worst of Trump's dangerous impulses. The proposed AUMF would make it even easier for them to abdicate their constitutional responsibility to determine when, and if, we go to war. We have to speak out now and stop this AUMF before it gains traction. Tell the Senate: Don’t give Donald Trump a blank check for war. Vote no on the Corker-Kaine AUMF. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Trump_AUMF?t=7&akid=28215%2E3130208%2EqzPzyH - Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Elizabeth Goitein, "The Corker-Kaine Bill Would Codify, not End, the Forever War," Defense One, April 17, 2018. Karoun Demirjian, "Senators release bipartisan proposal to reauthorize use of force against non-state groups," The Washington Post, April 16, 2018. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, “Barbara Lee Introduces Legislation to Repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force,” Sept. 30, 2010. Bob Corker, "Senators Propose Legislation To Update Authorities Used To Fight Terror Abroad," April 16, 2018.