Washington (December 12, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety and Representative Ted Lieu (CA-36), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today wrote to President Joe Biden, urging him to put guardrails on incoming President Donald Trump’s authority to start nuclear war by making it United States policy that it will not initiate a nuclear first strike without authorization from Congress.
Senator Markey’s and Representative Lieu’s Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, legislation first introduced in 2015, would prohibit the President of the United States from launching a nuclear first strike absent a declaration of war by Congress.
In the letter, the lawmakers write, “Current U.S. policy, which gives the president sole authority to launch nuclear weapons without any input from Congress, is dangerous. As Donald Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, it is more important than ever to take the power to start a nuclear war out of the hands of a single individual and ensure that Congress’s constitutional role is respected and fulfilled.”
The lawmakers continue, “Mr. President, with just weeks left in office, you can safeguard the system against Donald Trump or any future unstable president, and make it constitutional. We urge you to announce that henceforth it will be the policy of the United States that it will not initiate a nuclear first strike without express authorization from Congress. In a situation where the United States has already been attacked with nuclear weapons, the president would retain the option to respond unilaterally. President Biden, as an important part of your legacy, you must put guardrails on presidential authority to start nuclear war. We must never again entrust the fate of the world to just one fallible human.”
###
