Trump's Power to Use Nuclear Weapons Under Senate Scrutiny
- Corker calls that authority the ‘most consequential of all’
- Trump critic says hearing is first on nuclear issue since 1976
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President Donald Trump’s power to launch nuclear weapons is under scrutiny by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress concerned over his comments about striking North Korea.
Going to war is a “heavy responsibility” for elected leaders, and the decision to use nuclear weapons is the “most consequential of all,” Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said during a hearing Tuesday. Corker, who has emerged as vocal critic of Trump’s foreign policy, said he wanted to explore the “realities of this system” that allows the president to use nuclear weapons.