Over 300 members of the House recently voted against a resolution sponsored by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) pushing for the removal of remaining U.S. troops from Syria, meaning the resolution failed.
The text of the proposal itself was short and invoked legislative powers that evidently allow members of the House and Senate to force the withdrawal of troops, this time from Syria, where counter-terrorism missions continue. If approved by the House, it would have been up for consideration by the Senate as well, where Democrats remain in control. “Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)), Congress directs the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from Syria by not later than the date that is 180 days after the date of the adoption of this concurrent resolution,” the measure Gaetz proposed said.
Familiar names were among the limited list of original cosponsors for the resolution. That group included GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), and Matt Rosendale (Mont.). The measure did attract bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans of various political allegiances, but it still wasn’t enough. (The Democrats included known progressive names, like Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, while on the Right, others known for their allegiance to far-right causes also joined, a list including Lauren Boebert.) A full 321 members of the House opposed the proposed concurrent resolution, while 103 members supported it. A little under a dozen members were recorded as not voting.
Gaetz is already a sponsor of another, similar resolution that hadn’t yet been voted upon in the House as of Monday and would direct the removal of U.S. forces in Somalia, save for personnel associated with protecting the U.S. Embassy. He also introduced a resolution that would push back against approving funds for a new FBI headquarters outside Washington, D.C., citing a familiar though debunked litany of right-wing grievances about the federal law enforcement agency. Constructing “a new headquarters would condone, reinforce, and enable the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s nefarious behavior,” that proposed resolution asserts. Okay, sure — and pigs fly. In all likelihood, Gaetz will probably be in office for the foreseeable future considering investigations into his conduct have seemingly stalled out and his district still leans heavily towards Republicans.
