Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., claimed that people should be terrified that President-elect Trump will possess the power to initiate a nuclear attack.
In a post on X, Markey noted, "Come January, Donald Trump will have the sole authority to launch a nuclear strike. This should terrify you. That's why @RepTedLieu and I are urging @POTUS to put guardrails on presidential authority to start nuclear war."
Trump — who trounced Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 White House contest by winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote — previously served as president from early 2017 through early 2021. And during his Oval Office tenure, he never used nuclear weapons.
BIDEN ADMIN SETS NEW TARGET TO TRIPLE US NUCLEAR CAPACITY FROM 2020 LEVELS
He has also been outspoken about the massive danger posed by nuclear weapons.
"To me, we have one really major threat: That's called nuclear weapons," Trump said earlier this year. "This isn't Army tanks going back and forth and shooting at each other. This is obliteration," he said of the powerful weapons. "We have incredible stuff, so does Russia. China has much less but" will "catch up," Trump said, calling the issue the "single biggest threat by far to civilization."
Josh Barnett, who lost in a Republican primary for an Arizona state Senate seat earlier this year, responded to Markey's post by writing, "LOL he had the authority the last four years he was in office."
PUTIN SIGNS REVISED DOCTRINE LOWERING THRESHOLD FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSE IF RUSSIA IS ATTACKED
Others made the point as well.
"Hey buddy, he was already president once," Tom Gillis, who describes himself on X as a "Former PGA tour player," declared in response to the lawmaker's post.
"He had the power before and didn’t use it," another individual, Shonathan Perrius, tweeted.
In a letter to President Biden, Markey and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., declared that during his waning time in office, the commander-in-chief could "safeguard the system against Donald Trump or any future unstable president, and make it constitutional."
"We urge you to announce that henceforth it will be the policy of the United States that it will not initiate a nuclear first strike without express authorization from Congress. In a situation where the United States has already been attacked with nuclear weapons, the president would retain the option to respond unilaterally," the two Democrats declared in their letter to the president.
US MUST EXPAND NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN FACE OF RUSSIA AND CHINA THREAT, WARNS TOP OBAMA DEFENSE ADVISER
The lawmakers have long advocated for the policy shift, repeatedly pushing legislation on the issue.
"As the coauthors of the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act — proposed legislation that prohibits any U.S. president from launching a nuclear first strike without prior congressional authorization — we urge you, in your remaining time in office, to change this unconstitutional policy," they said in their letter to Biden.
"We first introduced this act during the Obama administration not as a partisan effort, but to make the larger point that current U.S. policy, which gives the president sole authority to launch nuclear weapons without any input from Congress, is dangerous. As Donald Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, it is more important than ever to take the power to start a nuclear war out of the hands of a single individual and ensure that Congress’s constitutional role is respected and fulfilled," Markey and Lieu noted.
When you compare SpaceX to the world's other space enterprises, it's probably easier to list the things SpaceX hasn't done instead of reciting all of the company's achievements.
One of these is the launch of nuclear materials. SpaceX has launched a handful of planetary science missions for NASA, but these spacecraft have all used solar arrays to generate electricity. In this century, NASA's probes relying on nuclear power have all flown on rockets built by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
This is about to change with a $256.6 million contract NASA awarded to SpaceX on Monday. The contract covers launch services and related costs for SpaceX to launch Dragonfly, a rotorcraft designed to explore the alien environment of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
© NASA
Iran has increased its nearly weapons-grade uranium, a United Nations watchdog found, defying international demands to rein in its nuclear program.
Iran now has enough uranium at 60% purity, just below the 90% purity needed for a weapon, to produce about four nuclear bombs, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said.
The report found Iran had about 400 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% as of Oct. 26, up 40 pounds from August.
Around 92 pounds of uranium, enriched at 90%, is needed to make an atomic weapon.
Iran’s overall stockpile of uranium enriched at any level reached about 14,560 pounds, up 1,880 pounds from August.
It comes as Iran has offered to cease enriching uranium beyond 60% – but only if the European Union and the United Kingdom cease their efforts to slap new sanctions on Iran and the IAEA drops a censure resolution it is pursuing.
During a meeting between IAEA general director Rafael Grossi and high-level Iranian diplomats, "the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 was discussed, including technical verification measures necessary for the Agency to confirm this, if implemented," Grossi said.
NETANYAHU CONFIRMS ISRAEL STRIKE AGAINST IRAN HIT NUKE PROGRAM DURING OCTOBER RETALIATORY STRIKES
He added that Iran said it would consider accepting agency inspectors to conduct oversight of its nuclear materials.
Experts say there is no credible use of 60% uranium at the civilian level.
Concerns have swelled among Western nations that Iran could decide pursuing a nuclear bomb is its best deterrent, after Israel hollowed out Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s biggest proxies. U.S. intelligence suggests they've improved their manufacturing capabilities for doing so over the past year.
It's not yet clear whether President-elect Trump will come in with a combative or diplomatic tone toward Iran, but he's promised to crack down on sanctions on the regime that he claims President Biden failed to enforce.
The European Union on Monday widened sanctions against Iran for its alleged support for Russia in the war in Ukraine, including targeting the national seafaring company and ships used to transfer drones and missiles. Acting in tandem, the U.K. froze the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied that Iran was aiding Russia and warned the sanctions would prompt Iran to retaliate.
"There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such behavior. If anything, it will only compel what it ostensibly seeks to prevent," Araghchi wrote on X.
"Freedom of navigation is a basic principle of the law of the sea. When selectively applied by some, such shortsightedness usually tends to boomerang," Araghchi wrote.
The IAEA board is expected to move forward with a European-backed censure resolution, which could lead to the issue being escalated to the U.N. Security Council for possible measures against Tehran.
That resolution would condemn Tehran's lack of responsiveness and call for creating a comprehensive report of all open questions about Iran's nuclear work.
Iran has not formally decided whether to build a nuclear bomb, according to the latest available U.S. intelligence. But as of September 2024, Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium in about seven days and have enough for six to nine nuclear bombs within a month if it wanted to, according to David Albright at the Institute for Science and International Security.
