Politics

As Congress returns, both parties are livid over Trump move in Syria

With bipartisan condemnation of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw a small group of U.S. soldiers from Syria, Congress returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday with members of both parties denouncing the President, and lawmakers willing to approve sanctions on Turkey to slow its move into Syria.

"I thought you were going to defeat ISIS, that is why people voted for you," Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) tweeted to President Trump, as Republicans from all corners of the country have denounced the President.

"I urge the President to reverse his decision of removing our troops, and to send a strong message to Turkey," said Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL).

"President Trump is a populist who wants to put America first and to the detriment of our allies and friends, people we’ve been associated with for decades," said Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), who denounced Mr. Trump's decision last week, during an interview with KMOX Radio in St. Louis.

"I called my chief of staff in D.C., I said pull my name off the I-support-Donald-Trump-list," Shimkus added.

"President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria is having sickening and predictable consequences," said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

Members of both parties say they want to quickly approve economic sanctions against Turkey, as a way to try to force the Turks to stop their push into Syria, and halt attacks on groups which had allied with the U.S. military.

"I will be working across party lines in a bicameral fashion to draft sanctions and move quickly," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who tweeted on Monday that he already spoken with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"The Speaker indicated to me that time was of the essence," Graham said.

But both parties said the President had started this crisis, by giving the green light to the Turks to move troops into Syria, while the U.S. pulled back, as Democrats were also livid.

"The President’s actions in Syria have made the world less safe," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).

"Donald Trump sold out our allies to appease authoritarian dictators, and paved the way for an onslaught of war crimes against the Kurds," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

"The Turkish attacks against the Kurds are attacks against humanity, and our President is sitting back and watching," said Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).

"Our enemies - ISIS - are escaping while our partners - Kurdish & Syrian opposition forces - are dying," tweeted Rep. Chrissy Houlihan (D-PA).

"We are seeing the results of our betrayal of U.S. partners, namely the Syrian Kurds, who were critical to the international fight against ISIS," said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who worked at both the CIA and Pentagon.