AFGHANISTAN/DEMS/FOREIGN POLICY/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Senate delivered a rare rebuke to President Donald Trump’s foreign policy Thursday [1-31-19], opposing his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and shrink American forces in Afghanistan. In a bipartisan voteof 68-to-23, lawmakers advanced a measure sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warning against a ‘precipitous withdrawal’ of American forces from Syria and Afghanistan. It was a particularly notable move coming from McConnell, who has been reluctant to criticize or cross Trump.Forty-three Republicans and 25 Democrats voted in favor of the resolution…McConnell’s resolution is nonbinding, but it showcased a public rift between hawkish congressional Republicans and Trump, who campaigned on a promise to bring American troops home from far-flung conflicts. Trump announced his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria in December, declaring on Twitter that the Islamic State had been defeated.”
–Deirdre Shesgreen, “Senate advances bill warning against ‘precipitous withdrawal’ from Syria and Afghanistan,” USA Today, January 31, 2019 5:45 pm