WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Some progressive Democrats are criticizing President Joe Biden after a series of strikes on Yemen aimed at the Houthi militia that started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., was among several who said the Biden administration should have consulted lawmakers.
“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another Middle East conflict. That is Article I of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House,” Khanna wrote in a social media post.
Yemen’s Houthis have vowed fierce retaliation for the U.S.-led strikes, further raising the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already beset by Israel’s war in Gaza.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said the strikes risk another long-term regional conflict.
“The United States cannot risk getting entangled into another decades-long conflict without Congressional authorization. The White House must work with Congress before continuing these airstrikes in Yemen.”
The White House said the U.S. expects the Houthis to try to strike back.
“Nobody was pollyannish about the possibility that they might conduct some sort of retaliation,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. He added, “This wasn’t some signaling exercise. This was designed to disrupt and degrade Houthi military capabilities.”
The U.S.-led bombardment — launched in response to a recent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the vital Red Sea — killed at least five people and wounded six, the Houthis said. The U.S. said the strikes took aim at more than 60 targets in 16 different locations across Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they were avenging Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade and energy shipments.
The Houthis’ military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said in a recorded address that the strikes would “not go unanswered or unpunished.”
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat and former U.S. intelligence official, welcomed the U.S. strikes but expressed concern Iran was aiming to draw the U.S. deeper into conflict.
“We should be worried about regional escalation,” Slotkin wrote on X. “Iran uses groups like the Houthis to fight their battles, maintain plausible deniability and prevent a direct conflict with the U.S. or others. … It needs to stop, and my hope is they’ve gotten the message.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.