Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) saw another of his proposed initiatives fail this month in the House, which voted down a proposal sponsored by the Trump-backing Florida Republican that would have ultimately undone a presidential declaration of national emergency that has provided the legal foundation for sanctions against individuals and interests connected to violence in Syria.
The final tally had 397 House members in opposition, with only two dozen in favor of Gaetz’s push. Opponents of the initiative argued on the House floor that it would effectively help dangerous individuals threatening U.S. and Israeli interests in the Middle East, while in response, Gaetz argued both against the characterization of the situation in Syria as an “emergency” and for the usage of other legal tools if sanctions were to be sought. He also argued the present framework was ineffective, considering the violence that’s still been seen, though some may point to the possibility of a further escalated situation in the absence of these punitive financial moves from the U.S. that block access to some resources for individuals and groups of concern.
“Let me be clear: Some of the people sanctioned under this national emergency quite literally developed chemical weapons, and we know when President Donald Trump determined that chemical weapons were used, he immediately responded with a direct attack on the Assad regime,” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) argued in the House, tearing into Gaetz’s proposal. “If we overturn this national emergency, those sanctions will automatically and immediately disappear. The criminals behind Assad’s weapons of mass destruction program should not be able to access credit cards to do business with Americans.”
The failed resolution mirrored a series of similar proposals that far-right Republicans have recently introduced in the House, targeting past declarations from a president of a national emergency. Though dated, these declarations have repeatedly been extended on a yearly basis by presidential decree.
