Senate Democrats on Thursday filed legislation they say would limit the president’s ability to move against Cuba without Congress weighing in, setting up another fight over war powers just as Trump faces fresh scrutiny of his foreign policy posture.
The bill, led by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine, Ruben Gallego and Adam Schiff, is a war powers resolution designed to prevent the United States from launching an attack on Cuba without congressional approval, according to the filing reported by the Associated Press. Democrats said they are seeking to force a vote as President Donald Trump pursues what he has described as a “takeover” of the Caribbean country.
Under the resolution, the president would be required to remove the military from any hostilities with Cuba, the AP reported. Democrats said the measure could potentially receive a vote by the end of March, positioning it as both a legal limit and a pressure tactic ahead of further administration action.
Kaine, in a statement, said the Constitution gives only Congress the power to declare war and criticized Trump’s conduct as operating without authorization or “any explanation for his actions to the American people.” Kaine framed the issue as Trump treating the military as a mechanism for ordering action in the Caribbean, while also operating in other regions without congressional buy-in.
Trump, for his part, has tied the Cuba question to a broader sequence of foreign policy priorities that he has discussed publicly. The AP reported that earlier this week Trump said Rubio was negotiating with Cuba’s leadership as Cuba faces what the report described as a crippling energy crisis that has been exacerbated by a U.S. blockade of the island. Trump also told reporters at a news conference in Florida that it “may be a friendly takeover” and that it “may not be a friendly takeover,” adding that he and Rubio would focus on the goal after the war with Iran.
The filing comes amid a long-running tense U.S.-Cuba relationship, and Democrats’ concern that Trump’s approach to foreign conflicts could extend to the island. The AP reported that Rubio has previously called for aggressive U.S. opposition to Cuba’s leadership, and it referenced Rubio’s earlier comments that the administration would “love” to see Cuban regime change—while cautioning that that stance “does not mean we are going to provoke it directly.”
Democrats have repeatedly used war powers resolutions as leverage to compel debate over Trump’s foreign policy actions, the AP reported. While Democrats have not succeeded in passing any of those resolutions so far, the tactic has at times pushed the administration to respond to Congress with explanations of its goals.
Ruben Gallego said Democrats plan to use the same procedural strategy again next week, with plans to potentially force votes on a series of war powers resolutions that would apply to Iran unless Republicans agree to hold public hearings on that conflict.
As Democrats prepare to press for votes on Cuba and Iran, the resolution filed this week sets the stage for another test of whether the Senate majority will back presidential authority or advance congressional control over decisions to use U.S. military power.