Rep. Jordan: Action in Syria ‘should be debated in Congress’

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) stressed on Thursday that military action in Syria “should be debated in Congress,” but acknowledged that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s actions in the country “deserves some kind of response.”

“It seems to me that you’ve got to have a debate in Congress, that’s what the Constitution clearly spells out. Let’s have that debate,” Jordan told CNN host Chris Cuomo on “New Day” when asked if lawmakers would assert their constitutional authority on war powers. “Something of this magnitude should be debated.”

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President Trump said Monday that his administration would make a response “very quickly” to an apparent chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians in Syria, which the West has pinned on Assad. 

A potential U.S military strike in Syria has raised concerns by lawmakers of both parties, who have cautioned that the executive branch is not constitutionally allowed to declare war.

“But I also understand what Assad did, this is as evil and as wrong as it gets, and it deserves some kind of response,” Jordan added, saying that the Founding Fathers envisioned such decisions being weighed in public by elected representatives.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned on Wednesday that Trump “has no legal authority” to broaden U.S. military involvement in the civil war-torn nation, while Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) demanded that Trump go to Congress for authorization before making a move.