Top Dem blasts Trump's cartel strikes, says admin overstepping war powers

By Fox News · Fox News

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, blasted the Trump administration’s airstrikes in the Caribbean, arguing that they resemble powers the president would only have during wartime. To conduct any of the strikes — and to continue them — Trump should seek congressional approval, Raskin argued. "Congress has got to assert our institutional prerogative. We have the power to declare war. Not Donald Trump, not JD Vance, not Pete Hegseth, not Tulsi Gabbard," Raskin said, referring to the country's top security officials. "Nobody in the administration has the right to declare war. Only Congress has the right to declare war. And we've got to take that back." GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP'S VENEZUELA STRIKES AS CRITICS QUESTION LEGALITY Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, the administration designated several drug cartels operating in the United States — and internationally — as terrorist organizations. In recent months, it has used Navy strikes in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela to eliminate what it has identified as credible terrorist threats in the United States. The administration has conducted over 20 strikes since November. That framing has come under fire in recent weeks as questions have emerged about whether striking boats in international waters violates international law. To Raskin, the strikes have encroached on questions of due process. HEGSETH SAYS MILITARY CONDUCTED ANOTHER STRIKE ON BOAT CARRYING ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS "We don't allow the military to act as [a] police officer, the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and executioner. And we don't just give massive death penalties by virtue of some imaginary collective punishment or guilt by association. So, we've got to rein the administration in and bring them back to the rule of law in the Constitution," Raskin said. Some lawmakers, including Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, have pushed back on Raskin’s criticisms by noting the United States has conducted strike…