Today’s notice: The Department of War does wars. Senate Republicans say it’s too late for a war powers vote — with one exception. Disappointment at the NRSC. Hardball politics in Texas. Plus: A deep dive into the murky world of presidential library fundraising.
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Joke’s on you? Recall, if you will, last September, when Donald Trump announced his intention to bring back the Department of War.
The response was generally chuckles … and eyerolls. There were people who called the name change a “distraction.” Others said it was just an expensive vanity project, noting that the department still officially has the name it has always had, but with a requirement to buy a bunch of new branded swag. And still others said the new name was nothing serious, just Trump being Trump.
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Turns out trying to find the irony was the wrong read. There is no end in sight to the war in Iran, the U.S. military is reportedly still menacing the regime in Venezuela, and this week a new military action in Ecuador was announced. The debate we’re having now over all this use of American military power did not kick off when the president stood in front of TV cameras and said he was ordering up a Department of War. Should it have?