As Congress grapples with President Donald Trump’s war powers after his surprise military operation in Venezuela, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has introduced legislation aimed at blocking any unauthorized invasion in Mexico.
The San Antonio Democrat said the measure would safeguard U.S. taxpayers and protect diplomatic relations with a key trading partner and neighbor.
“My constituents in San Antonio don’t want the U.S. to spend billions in another war that risks destabilizing the region, mass migration, and human rights abuses,” Castro, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Western Hemisphere subcommittee, said in a news release on Wednesday.
The legislation would prohibit President Donald Trump from using federal funds to wage military action in Mexico without congressional authorization. U.S. Reps. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., are co-sponsors. It has little to no chance of passing in the Republican-dominated lower chamber.
On Friday, Castro and 71 other House Democrats also penned a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that any unauthorized incursion into Mexican territory would “destroy trust” and undermine cooperative security efforts. Rubio has urged Mexico for stronger cooperation to combat cartels and fentanyl trafficking, but he said in November that the U.S. would not take unilateral military action in the country.
Since then, Trump seems to have backed down from the threat, with Sheinbaum saying Monday that she had “a very good conversation” with the Republican president. According to Sheinbaum, the countries will continue cooperating to fight the cartels without the involvement of American troops, the AP reported.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday abandoned a vote on a bill that would have required Trump to get congressional approval before taking further military action in Venezuela, a win for the White House that signals it will continue to face little resistance from lawmakers.