Senators ask Biden what legal authority he has to strike Houthis

The senators condemned Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and acknowledged the U.S. can carry out defensive strikes to protect its troops and assets under Article 2 of the Constitution — but raised questions about the authority to strike the Houthis when the rebels are mainly targeting international ships and not American ones.

“There is no current congressional authorization for offensive U.S. military action against the Houthis,” the senators wrote. “While the Houthis and their backers, namely Iran, bear the responsibility for escalation, unless there is a need to repel a sudden attack the Constitution requires that the United States not engage in military action absent a favorable vote of Congress.”

The letter was signed by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).

The repeated strikes on Yemen also spurred concerns in the House, where progressive lawmakers such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and more conservative lawmakers such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have questioned Biden’s authority.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby defended the commander in chief’s authority earlier this month after the first strike on Jan. 11.

“We’re very comfortable and confident in the legal authorities that the president exercised to conduct these strikes,” Kirby told reporters.

Other lawmakers have defended Biden’s decision to launch strikes against the Houthis.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the strikes were constitutional and authorized under the 1973 War Powers Act.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have attacked merchant ships in the Red Sea more than 30 times since late November, with the rebel militia group claiming they are targeting Israel-based ships or ships headed to Israel in retaliation for the war in Gaza.

The U.S. first launched the strikes with the U.K. and has continued hammering Houthi sites in Yemen to weaken their ability to carry out the attacks. But the Houthis have not backed down, raising the possibility of a long conflict.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.