The U.S. Senate on Tuesday rejected Democratic legislation that would have forced President Donald Trump to obtain congressional approval before ending the U.S. energy blockade on Cuba unless lawmakers agreed otherwise, according to the Associated Press.
The vote came as Democrats repeatedly sought to use the War Powers Act of 1973 to assert congressional authority over the president’s ability to deploy military force in conflicts that the AP said include Venezuela, Iran and Cuba. AP reported Tuesday’s Senate vote as the first war powers resolution focused on Cuba, with Democrats arguing it was necessary to prevent Trump from taking military action against the island nation.
Senate Republicans moved to dismiss the war powers resolution, saying it was out of order because the United States is not engaged in outright hostilities with Cuba. Their maneuver succeeded in a 51-47 tally, AP reported, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat who backed dismissing the resolution.
AP reported that Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky were the only Republicans to support dismissing the legislation. Those votes reflected, according to AP, that Republicans continued to stand behind Trump as he acts unilaterally to exert American force abroad.
Kaine said the U.S. was already engaged in hostilities with Cuba under the resolution because of American force used primarily through the Coast Guard and other assets to maintain what he described as a devastating economic blockade. In AP’s account, Kaine said the blockade has produced “humanitarian crises across Cuba,” including disrupting medical care, leaving millions of people without clean water, and spiking food prices.
AP also described the effects of the blockade and related sanctions on the Caribbean island, including water and power outages as the U.S. imposes sanctions and interrupts oil shipments from Venezuela. The Trump administration, AP reported, is pressing Cuba’s leadership to end political repression, release political prisoners and liberalize its ailing economy.
Welch said in a statement carried by AP that “The United States and Cuba need to find a way to peacefully coexist.” The AP story also said Democrats argued the resolution was necessary to head off the potential for Trump to launch a military campaign against Cuba.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida accused Democrats of ignoring human rights abuses by Cuba’s leadership, AP reported. Scott said in the AP account that “President Trump is doing everything he can to bring back freedom and democracy all across Latin America, and we should do everything we can to support him.”
The conflict over Cuba policy unfolded against Trump’s broader messaging on foreign policy. AP reported that Trump has said that after the war with Iran, he will turn his attention to Cuba and that he pledged “a new dawn for Cuba” during a speech at a Turning Points USA event last week.