White House defends Yemen strikes amid congressional pushback

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House sought Friday to stave off mounting bipartisan criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill following overnight strikes that targeted Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Lawmakers from both parties have questioned the legal basis for the strikes, but National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the White House remains "very comfortable and confident in the legal authorities" used to conduct the strikes.

"The president has been doing, has been trying to prevent any escalation of conflict, including the strikes last night," he said.

Both Republicans and US President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats have questioned the legal standing of the American strikes, saying they are being conducted without the approval of Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to declare war.

Progressive Democratic Representative Ro Khanna slammed the strikes, saying Biden needed "to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict."

"That is Article I of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House," he said on X.

"If you had told me on Jan 20, 2021 that Biden would be ordering military strikes on the Houthis without Congressional approval while the Saudis would be calling for restraint and de-escalation in Yemen, I would never have believed it," he added.

The sentiments were echoed by prominent Republicans as well, including firebrand Representative Matt Gaetz, who said Khanna is "absolutely correct" in his criticism of the president.

The Biden administration has said the strikes were "defensive" in nature, and were intended to erode the Houthis' ability to strike vessels in the Red Sea after over two dozen attacks took place there since mid-November.

Some Republicans and Democrats have welcomed the administration's actions, including the top Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

"This action by U.S. and British forces is long overdue, and we must hope these operations indicate a true shift in the Biden Administration’s approach to Iran and its proxies that are engaging in such evil and wreaking such havoc. They must understand there is a serious price to pay for their global acts of terror," House Speaker Mike Johnson said.