Matt Gaetz Proposes Resolution to Withdraw Troops from Syria

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) proposed a resolution on Tuesday to remove American troops from Syria.

Gaetz, a noninterventionist Republican and a member of the Armed Services Committee, filed a War Powers resolution after the U.S. Central Command revealed that four U.S. servicemembers were wounded during a raid in northeastern Syria.

Gaetz explained to Fox News:

Since the invasion of Ukraine, we seem to have turned our attention away from some of America’s entanglement in Syria,” Gaetz told Fox News Digital. “And the purpose of my legislation is to force members of Congress to vote on record regarding whether they think we ought to continue Obama’s war in Syria. President Obama kicked off our involvement … and now we still find ourselves in the middle of a Syrian civil war with Russia and Turkey and Iran, all present in a very confined neighborhood.

“And it strikes me as a powder keg for very dangerous escalation. And as we find ourselves here in 2023, we ought to ask ourselves, ‘Do we really want to continue the Obama-era policy of engaging in a Syrian civil war?’ I don’t think we should,” the Florida congressman continued.

Gaetz’s office argued in a press release that the Constitution only grants Congress, not the president, authority to declare war and that Congress never authorized “kinetic participation” in the ongoing conflict in Syria.

The Florida conservative’s resolution would mandate the removal of American armed forces from Syria no later than 15 days after the resolution’s adoption. War Powers resolutions are privileged, meaning that the House is obligated to vote on the resolution within 18 days of its introduction.

The Florida congressman also said that he is not sure if President Joe Biden has a mental grasp on the Syrian conflict.

Biden stated in an August 2021 interview with ABC News, “[W]e don’t have military in Syria to make sure that we’re going to be protected.”