Kaine Statement on Trump’s Secret Directive to Launch Illegal Wars Across the Western Hemisphere

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, released the following statement regarding reports of a secret directive by President Donald Trump to the Pentagon to begin using unauthorized military force against certain Latin American drug cartels:

“There is strong bipartisan interest in addressing the risks posed by drug cartels, and significant interagency resources have already been allocated to that effort. But when it comes to involving the Pentagon, there is a right way and a wrong way. I was proud to work with Senator Joni Ernst on legislation that President Biden signed into law to direct the Pentagon to develop a fentanyl-specific counter-drug strategy, and I worked closely with Secretary Marco Rubio when he was in the Senate to codify and fully resource the Interagency Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. But signing a secret directive to potentially send U.S. servicemembers into harm’s way—without consulting Congress, notifying the American people, or any legal authority to launch strikes within the sovereign territory of our neighbors—is short-sighted and lawless, and will destroy the critical relationships we need to effectively address this challenge.”

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