Three Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday issued a statement rejecting the Democrats’ letter to President Biden insisting on his sole nuclear authority.
Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rank member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., And subcommittee rankings Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said such a move would “leave Americans vulnerable.”
“Democrats’ dangerous efforts to restructure our nuclear command and control process will undermine American security, as well as the security of our allies,” Republicans said in a statement. “If these proposals were issued, it would leave Americans vulnerable, destabilize the nuclear balance and shake our allies’ confidence in the nuclear umbrella.”
The statement added that the withdrawal of the president’s nuclear capabilities would be welcomed by opponents of nuclear powers, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
‘The ability to take action during an attack is essential to avert a preventative strike from our opponents. America must never adopt policies or create bureaucratic barriers that will give our opponents an edge, ‘the statement said.
THE REMOVAL OF CORE POWERS OF PRESIDENT MESSENGER WILL BE ‘WILDLY UNSTITUTIONAL’: MIKE LEE
Cheney stressed the importance of the country’s core capabilities in a speech on Tuesday.
“Similarly, taking down any policy that undermines the United States’ ability to defend ourselves, such as the ‘no-use’ policy on our nuclear powers, will seriously undermine our deterrent and make the world much more dangerous,” she said during a Tuesday speech at the Reagan Institute, adding that the U.S. “should never adopt policies that we may pursue while our opponents do the opposite.”
A military assistant carries the alleged ‘football’, a case involving the launching codes for nuclear weapons, to Marine One. (Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
About three dozen House Democrats have signed a letter asking Biden to relinquish his sole authority to launch nuclear weapons, according to a report by Politico on Wednesday. A promise by the president to give up his nuclear power as commander-in-chief could take away the same power from future presidents.
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“Establishing a person with this authority involves real risks,” reads the letter from Representative Jimmy Panetta, D-California, obtained by Politico. “Previous presidents have threatened to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that other officials have expressed concern about the president’s judgment.”
The congressman said Monday tweet that he calls ‘Bid’ to install checks [and] balances in our core control-and-control structure. ‘
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Democrats who signed the letter offered some alternatives to the sole nuclear authority, such as requiring the vice president and House speaker to agree to a presidential launch order before it is carried out, Politico.
Presidents constantly handed over a briefcase with all the necessary materials to engage in a nuclear strike using a specific code, often referred to as ‘nuclear football’.
Democrats have earlier expressed concern about former President Trump having access to such power. House President Nancy Pelosi, for example, said in January that she had spoken to Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley about the protection of core codes against a ‘fearless president’.