I asked Republican Senator Mike Lee what made him so angry about the briefing by senior Trump administration officials on Iran yesterday. Going to post (most of) his full reply here.
Lee: "Like everyone else in America I'm worried about the separation of powers. This is a bedrock thing. I could not have been more upset about that if they were insulting a member of my family.”
(Then he paused for a moment.)
"That's an overstatement."
(Then he paused for a moment.)
"That's an overstatement."
"The point is it felt like a gut punch, in part because it reflects a longstanding drift away from the separation of powers."
"This upset me yestrday in part b/c of how brazen & bold & unapologetic & unqualified they were in saying 'we're not going to tell you at what point we think we need your authorization. We're not even going to acknowledge at what point we might need it.' That's really troubling!"
"It ought to bother you. Because there is a good reason why this power was vested only in the branch of government most accountable to the people, with the most regular intervals."
"When you require the power to be diffused and dispersed in this way, and subjected to open, robust debate and discussion, that makes getting into war harder."
"And it also ensures that in the wars you do choose to get into, you choose to declare, that you actually have buy-in from the American people who will be sacrificing their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers, to the war effort.” /fin
