Washington DC - Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush led several of their colleagues in a new letter questioning the Biden-Harris administration's direct military support for Israel, including the deployment of US troops to the region.

"In light of recent regional escalations, including exchanges in hostilities between Israel and Iran and the Israeli government’s ground invasions of Lebanon and Gaza, we are deeply concerned about the increasing role and involvement of the U.S. Armed Forces in expanding wars across the Middle East," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, also signed by Representatives Ilhan Omar, Summer Lee, and André Carson.

"American military involvement in these wars has not been authorized by the United States Congress, as required by the Constitution and US law," they added.

Article 1 of the Constitution states that Congress has the sole power to declare war.

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The War Powers Resolution of 1973 further limits the president's authority to engage in armed conflict without congressional approval – including by sending US troops abroad or sharing US intelligence – when there exists no "national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces."

The lawmakers suggested the White House may be violating the law by deploying US troops to the Middle East and using US intelligence to help Israel locate individuals it wants to target in Gaza – all without the consent of Congress.

The letter signatories are asking President Joe Biden to answer within two weeks of Friday:

• whether the US has any legal basis to potentially help Israel respond militarily to October 1 retaliatory strikes by Iran
  
• whether the US is providing military services of any nature to command, coordinate, or accompany Israeli forces engaged in hostilities
• what the legal basis was for authorizing the deployment of US troops to the Middle East amid rising hostilities
• whether the Biden-Harris administration was justified in launching US strikes on Yemen

The letter comes as Israel has killed at least 43,259 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, according to the territory's health ministry. The British medical journal Lancet and other experts believe the true number to be far greater, upwards of 186,000 as of July.

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Israel has also launched strikes on Syria, Yemen, and Iran and killed at least 1,911 people in Lebanon since it escalated its assault on the country in September.

"These destructive wars must end, as must any unauthorized US involvement in them. The American public deserves a say on the issue of war. Thus, Congress’ involvement and debate are necessary," the representatives wrote.

"Every day that passes without a ceasefire produces catastrophic loss of life and threatens further death and destruction. We have an obligation to both the living and the dead to put an immediate end to this devastation."