Democratic senators plan to introduce a bill that would prevent U.S. President Donald Trump launching military action against North Korea unless Congress votes to approve it.
On Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy said he, along with senators Brian Schatz and Cory Booker, will introduce the bill that would stop Trump from launching a strike against Kim Jong Un’s regime without first getting a vote passed through Congress.
“Trump’s North Korea threats are real. I will intro bill w @brianschatz & @CoryBooker to prohibit any preemptive action w/o vote by Congress,” Murphy tweeted.
The senator said the bill would make clear “any unauthorized pre-emptive strike on N Korea – nuclear or conventional – is illegal.”
“Mistake by Trump could kill hundreds of thousands on Korean Peninsula. My bill w @brianschatz @CoryBooker will clarify Trump’s war powers,” Murphy tweeted.
The planned bill comes a day after NBC News reported diplomatic talks between North Korea and the U.S. were on its “last legs.”
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READ MORE: North Korea-U.S. diplomatic talks reportedly on ‘last legs’
Citing unnamed U.S. government officials, NBC News reported the breakdown in talks between the two countries has caused some concern on Capitol Hill.
Joseph Yun, a top American diplomat to North Korea, has expressed frustration over the inability to communicate the urgency of the situation to the White House ahead of Trump’s trip to Asia in November.
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A second U.S. official told NBC News, the message coming from Washington could be part of the diplomatic breakdown.
“It is not so much that North Korea is shutting down, it’s that the message from the U.S. government is, ‘Surrender without a fight or surrender with a fight,’” NBC quoted the unnamed official as saying.
Murphey told MSNBC Wednesday morning that it’s “not surprising” that talks are on “life support.”
“It’s not surprising that negotiations are on life support right now. President Trump is deploying what is perhaps the worst negotiating strategy in the history of the American presidency,” Murphy said.
READ MORE: North Korea is a ‘critical and imminent’ threat, Japan says
Last month, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said Pyongyang may consider conducting “the most powerful detonation” of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean amid rising tensions with the U.S.
On Wednesday, a senior North Korean official told CNN the foreign minister’s words should be taken “literally.”
“The foreign minister is very well aware of the intentions of our supreme leader, so I think you should take his words literally,” Ri Yong Pil, a senior diplomat in North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, told CNN.
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As commander-in-chief, Trump has the ability to launch a pre-emptive strike any time without needing approval from either Congress or senior military officials.
“For all the Republicans breaking w Trump, here is your chance to actually constrain his most dangerous power – to make war,” Murphey tweeted.
Trump is expected to visit China, South Korea and Japan during his 12-day Asia trip beginning next week, where North Korea with dominate talks with Trump’s counterparts.
— With a file from Reuters
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