Sleepy Joe Biden Not Trusted With Nuclear Codes
As President Joe Biden continues to adjust to his new life in the White House, Democratic lawmakers are asking him to cede control of nuclear codes.
“As president, two of your most critical and solemn duties are the security of the country and the safeguarding of its nuclear arsenal,” reads a letter from California Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D) and Ted Lieu (D). “However, vesting one person with this authority entails real risks…Past presidents have threatened to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that caused other officials to express concern about the president’s judgement.”
This is a jab at President Donald Trump. He repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons during his pressure campaign on North Korea. Last month, in the days following the “MAGA attack” at the US Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, what they could do to prevent an ‘unhinged president’ from launching a nuclear attack.
31 lawmakers signed the Democrats’ letter. It encourages Biden to “consider modifying the decision-making process the United States uses for command and control of nuclear forces.”
Potential alternatives include:
- Requirement that the President, Vice President, and House speaker approve any decision to launch nukes
- Requirement that Congress also confirms any decision to launch nukes
- Written confirmation from the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General that such a strike was legal
- Periodic deliberation about the use of nuclear weapons by a permanent council of lawmakers that would have to be consulted before weapons are launched
As it stands, the president does not need to consult with anyone before ordering a nuclear attack. “The military is obligated to carry out the order if they assess it is legal under the laws of war,” notes the letter.
The idea that POTUS should have sole authority over the decision to launch nuclear weapons began during the Cold War. It was widely understood that there would not be enough time for deliberation. Starting during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, presidents or their aides have carried with them a briefcase known as the “nuclear football.”
The contents of the briefcase also allow the president to singlehandedly launch a nuclear weapon without the traditional process of declaring war and mobilizing an army.
Republicans understand that changing this tradition would undermine American security. “The President of the United States must have the exclusive ability to command and control our nuclear deterrent,” wrote House Republicans Liz Cheney (WY), Mike Rogers (AL), and Mike Turner (OH). “These proposals, if enacted, would leave Americans vulnerable, destabilize the nuclear balance, and shake our allies’ confidence in the nuclear umbrella. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping would cheer if the US adopted such a unilateral restriction.”
Author’s Note: Nobody thinks Sleepy Joe is going to fire a nuke or even threaten to do so. So what is really going on here is that lawmakers don’t want a senile old Biden to be in charge of the nuclear codes.
Sources:
House Democrats ask Biden to give up sole power to launch nuclear bomb
He shouldn’t be trusted with the codes to your remote GARAGE DOOR OPENER!!!!
What makes you think he will remember the code?
Geeze, why not have a national vote if a nuclear response is ever needed. The dems might not trust Biden, I certainly trusted Trump.
IT WOULD BE LIKE GIVING WEAPONS TO YOSIMITE SAM- NO WAY IN HELL. BIDEN IS THAT RECKLESS. THEY WOULD COME BACK ON US
Seven days in May are coming!!!
If they had this restriction when Truman decided to use ‘The Bomb’ on Japan to save lives on both sides it would not have happened thus extending WWII many more years costing a generation of thousands of lives.
The “Author’s note” makes it seem like this is about Biden – it is not. Previously, she writes “this is a jab against [ex] President Donald Trump” because it was Trump who was unstable enough to start a nuclear war. Only Trumpist pundits are making this about Biden.
Trump did threaten to start a nuclear war with North Korea, for no reason that anyone could imagine. But during the last year of his Presidency, Trump also became increasingly more unstable. Six months before the election, he was calling the election “rigged”, while actively trying to undermine the voting process. After the election, he was whipping his supporters into a frenzy to throw out the legitimate election results and promote that he himself had won the election (and to be clear, he lost decisively!). It was obvious that he wasn’t going to give up power willingly. It was conceivable that because of his more and more unstable behavior, he might launch a nuke on some pretext, and then declare martial law. Fortunately, Trump is inept at everything he does, and was unable to carry out his attempted coup d’etat.
This question never came up with previous Presidents, although it is said that Nixon’s Sec. of Defense asked to be notified before launching any nuclear weapons. Now that adults are in charge again, the Democrats are asking Biden to prevent a future nuclear war, accidental or politically motivated. They want to fix a future Trump-like problem, not a problem with Biden.
And just for the record, there was no “nuclear football” during Truman’s Presidency. The US demanded that Japan surrender, and dropped the nuclear bombs 11 days later. This was 4 years after Hiroshima.
Sorry about the multiple posts… the first one disappeared, and I retyped it from memory and tried again… when I posted it, 3 of them popped up. Stupid website!
Mark,
The bombing of Japan was totally unnecessary to end the war. The historical record shows that it was the entry of the Soviets into the Pacific theatre that brought the Second World War to a close, and the idea that it was the use of atomic weapons that ended the war is a “myth” unsupported by the evidence, academic Peter Kuznick.
You must have read Trump’s version of American History.
The “author’s note” tries to make you think this whole article was raised because of Biden. It was not. As the author herself says near the beginning “this was a jab against Trump”. Yes, Trump threatened to use nuclear weapons against NK. Trump was also increasingly unstable in the last 6 months of his term. Before the election, he was promoting his “rigged election” theory while actively undermining the election process, and after the election he was whipping his supporters into a frenzy to get election results overturned. It was clear that he was not going to relinquish power easily, and nuking a foreign country would have destabilized the US (and the world) enough that he could have declared martial law.
This has never been discussed during any other President’s tenure, only during Trump’s (although it is said that Nixon’s Sec. of Defense wanted to be notified before the military launched any nukes). It was only brought up because of Trump’s irresponsible behavior. Now that the adults are in charge again, they’re asking Biden to prevent another Trump from starting a nuclear war. Only the Trumpist pundits are suggesting that it has anything to do with Biden. Democrats are asking Biden to fix a future Trump-like problem, not a Biden problem.
The “Author’s note” makes it seem like this is about Biden – it is not. Previously, she writes “this is a jab against [ex] President Donald Trump”.
Trump did threaten to start a nuclear war with North Korea, for no reason that anyone could imagine. But during the last year of his Presidency, Trump also became increasingly more unstable. Six months before the election, he was calling the election “rigged”, while actively trying to undermine the voting process. After the election, he was whipping his supporters into a frenzy to throw out the legitimate election results and promote that he himself had won the election (and to be clear, he lost decisively!). It was obvious that he wasn’t going to give up power willingly. It was conceivable that because of his more and more unstable behavior, he might launch a nuke on some pretext, and then declare martial law. Fortunately, Trump is inept at everything he does, and was unable to carry out his attempted coup d’etat.
This question never came up with previous Presidents, although it is said that Nixon’s Sec. of Defense asked to be notified before launching any nuclear weapons. Now that adults are in charge again, the Democrats are asking Biden to prevent a future nuclear war, accidental or politically motivated. They want to fix a future Trump-like problem, not a problem with Biden.
And just for the record, there was no “nuclear football” during Truman’s Presidency. The US demanded that Japan surrender, and dropped the nuclear bombs 11 days later. This was 4 years after Hiroshima.