CONGRESS/MILITARY/SANCTIONS/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “Congress vowed two weeks ago to impose sanctions on Turkey and rebuke President Donald Trump for withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. But the Senate has struggled to make any substantial headway in condemning the Turkish government for its incursion into Syria and to convince the president to reverse course. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a resolution Tuesday [10-22-19] calling on Trump to end the U.S. withdrawal of troops after the House overwhelmingly passed a similar measure last week, and Senate Republicans grilled a State Department official over the move. But so far, senators have not coalesced around a clear legislative solution. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) reiterated Tuesday that he, along Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the panel, is working on their own sanctions bill, and urged committee members to unite around a single solution.”
–Marianne Levine, “Senate struggles with response after Trump’s Syria pullout,” Politico, October 22, 2019 7:27 pm