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“President Trump was quick to call out Assad today, along with the Russian and Iranian governments, on Twitter. The question now is whether he will do anything about it,” McCain said.

A few Democrats joined McCain’s call for more airstrikes against the Assad regime.

“I thought that President Obama, when he set the red line and then they attacked with chemical weapons, that the U.S. should have taken action then, and I do so now as well,” Sen. Bill Nelson, Fla., said, referring to President Barack Obama’s 2012 pledge of action if Assad was confirmed to have used chemical weapons, which he never followed through on.

A core bipartisan group of senators has also long called for Congress to consider a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that would specifically govern the United States’ involvement in Syria. The administration is still operating on a decade-plus-old AUMF passed in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., authored an AUMF last year specifically geared towards the fight against ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban. Kaine also responded after Trump approved airstrikes against pro-Assad forces in February of this year, urging more congressional oversight.

“I am gravely concerned that the Trump Administration is purposefully stumbling into a broader conflict, without a vote of Congress or clear objectives,” he said at the time.

After the weekend’s attack, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reiterated that desire.

“The use of chemical weapons absolutely requires a response from the United States,” Lee said. \"But if that response is going to include military force, the President of the United States should come to Congress and ask for authorization before military force is used.\"

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