Sen. Dan Sullivan said Tuesday that President Trump would require authorization from Congress before fulfilling his promise to bring “fire and fury” against North Korea if it threatens the U.S.
“One of the options that they’re looking at that would eventually materialize is a pre-emptive war on the Korean peninsula launched by the U.S. Well, that would clearly in my view require the authorization from Congress,” the Alaskan Republican told Erin Burnett on CNN’s “Out Front.”
“Article I makes this very clear.”
Sullivan sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and represents a state that lies in reach of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities.
Effective diplomacy has to be backed up with credible military options, he said.
“To me, the administration has done a good job up until now working closely with the Congress on their broader strategy,” Sullivan continued. “But we’re going to play an important role here.”
Sullivan, however, differentiated between a pre-emptive strike and Trump responding to an attack, in which case Trump would have more authority to react without congressional approval as commander in chief.
Alaska is also home to part of the United States’ missile defense system, he said.
Sullivan said he was “confident” in America’s preparedness for a possible assault but called on his colleagues on Capitol Hill to do more to create a more “robust” program, including improving space sensors.
