House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argued Thursday that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was “lying to the American public” about the Democrats’ proposed war powers resolution.
“Make no mistake, today’s war powers resolution cannot become law, by definition, it will never be sent to the president, and it will never limit his constitutional authority to defend the American people,” he said on Thursday, according to TheHill. (RELATED: Report: Pelosi Got Idea For Holding Impeachment Articles From CNN)
“This is a meaningless vote that only sends the wrong message that the House Democrats would rather stand with the socialist base than stand against Iran,” McCarthy added.
Democratic Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin led the debate on Thursday over a resolution that would prevent President Donald Trump from using military force against Iran without congressional approval. McCarthy argued the president did not need approval from Congress to order the drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani last week.
“Well, first of all, they’re [Democrats] lying to the American public by concurrent resolution. It has no power,” he said. “It has no power whatsoever. It’s equivalent to when we invite the soap box derby to Capitol Hill.”
McCarthy added, “So the Speaker just stood before you, and either does not know the meaning of the Constitution, or she lied to you — I’m not sure which one it is.
Pelosi defended her support for the resolution saying, “We’re taking this path because it does not require a signature of the president of the United States. This is a statement of the Congress of the United States and I will not have that statement be diminished by whether the president will veto it or not.”