Democratic leaders push to curb US President's power to use nuclear weapons; Here's why

Democrats in the US Senate and the House of Representatives are planning to introduce a bill that would force the White House to seek congressional approvals before they plan to use their nuclear prowess. Amid the raging Russia-Ukraine war and the rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, the threat of nuclear attack has become significant now more than ever before. According to a statement released by two Democratic leaders, the bill insists that the president should not have the unilateral and arbitrary authority to start a nuclear war. 

As per the statement, the bill in question was introduced by Senator Ed Markey and Representative Ted Lieu on Friday. The bill is called “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act”. If the bill becomes the Act, it would prohibit any US President from “launching a nuclear strike without prior authorisation from the US Congress”. The bill also intends to amend the lawmakers’ war powers under the US Constitution. “No president has the right or the constitutional authority to unilaterally declare war, let alone launch a nuclear first strike,” Senator Markey asserted in a statement on Friday. “In the face of Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats, Congress must pass the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act to reaffirm its authority and make clear to world leaders that the United States will uphold its commitment to peace, stability, and democracy,” he further added. 

House Representative Ted Lieu, on the other hand, insisted on the need for safeguarding the system of checks and balances. “Our founders established a system of checks and balances for a reason—no one person should have the ability to launch a war that would end life as we know it,” Lieu asserted. “Congress alone has the constitutional duty to declare war and decide whether a nuclear launch is necessary. In the wake of Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine, and given the volatility of autocrats like war criminal Vladimir Putin, the threat presented by the unpredictable use of nuclear weapons has never been clearer. I’m proud to join Senator Markey in reintroducing this important legislation, which will establish necessary guardrails to the President’s ability to launch nuclear weapons,” he further added. 

The leaders gave a historical argument

In a joint statement, both leaders marked the anniversary of the April 15, 1969 incident in which a US spy plane was shot down by the North Korean forces. The two Democratic leaders highlighted how the “intoxicated (former) President Richard Nixon,”  ordered a nuclear strike in response. While the order was eventually disregarded, the two leaders indicated the dangers of vesting such a major power only on the US President. The two leaders also indicated how in 2022, Senators Markey and Jeff Merkley and Representatives John Garamendi and Don Beyer led 51 of their colleagues and wrote a letter to President Biden. In the letter, the democratic leaders urged the US president to reduce the American reliance on Nuclear weapons. The two American politicians insisted that in the light of the raging Russia-Ukraine war, the threat of any aggressive country using its nuclear prowess has become more prevalent.