The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Congress Privately Thrilled There’s No Syria Vote

It’s Congress’s most solemn duty — and scores of lawmakers don’t want anything to do with it. On Tuesday night, President Obama postponed a Congressional vote to authorize a U.S. military strike in Syria, preventing well over 100 undecided lawmakers in the House and Senate from having to declare a position publicly in the next ...

By , a staff writer and reporter at Foreign Policy from 2013-2017.
574665_1098918652.jpg
574665_1098918652.jpg
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Captiol March 9, 2011 in Washington, DC. Gillard emphasized the long and strong bond between her country and the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

It's Congress's most solemn duty -- and scores of lawmakers don't want anything to do with it.

It’s Congress’s most solemn duty — and scores of lawmakers don’t want anything to do with it.

On Tuesday night, President Obama postponed a Congressional vote to authorize a U.S. military strike in Syria, preventing well over 100 undecided lawmakers in the House and Senate from having to declare a position publicly in the next two weeks. For scores of Republicans and Democrats troubled by the optics of voting yea or nay, the delay was a godsend.

"Everyone’s happy there’s no vote," a senior GOP Congressional aide told The Cable. "Republicans were being bombarded by constituents who were largely uneducated on Syria. If the president couldn’t even articulate a clear rationale for the strikes, how were they supposed to?"

For Democrats, the incentive to stay quiet was even stronger.

"There were a lot of Democrats who didn’t come out opposed to the strike because they didn’t want to throw the president under the bus," a senior Democratic aide told The Cable. "It’s that notion of having a political duty."

That tension — faced by Republicans and Democrats — created a bloated demographic of undecided lawmakers who were ultimately rewarded for their silence. According to The Washington Post, more than 150 representatives in the House remained undecided ahead of Tuesday’s decision. In the Senate, more than 35 senators remained undecided. With the war vote delayed indefinitely, they can now navigate the politics of intervention with much greater freedom — a cautious strategy not all of their colleagues admire.

"What’s the sense of being in Congress to duck issues of war and peace?" Republican Congressman Peter King, who openly backed President Obama’s military strike, told The Cable. "Nothing to me is more important than foreign policy issues that affect life and death. No one builds a legacy on how they voted for a highway bill."

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the few House Republicans to vocally support the Syria strike, said he felt compelled to speak out. "If we had taken this vote, it would’ve been the most important in ten years," he said. "The point I tried to make is if you oppose this on principle, great. But if you oppose this because it’s Barack Obama’s plan, you should really rethink what your job is."

On the Democratic side, Rep. Alan Grayson, an early opponent of the strike, told The Cable that administration officials actively worked to silence anti-war Democrats.

"I’ll tell you, I’ve had classified briefings with members who hadn’t publicly committed but were vehemently opposed to the strike," he said. "The administration asked those members to remain publicly uncommitted and told them that doing that might assist in the United States’ efforts in the region. Some of those members decided to honor that request."

The surprisingly quiet voting blocs in the Democratic Party included the reliably anti-war Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Within those caucuses, war-weary lawmakers suchs as Rep. Jim Clyburn and Rep. G.K. Butterfield remained undecided on the Syria strike. For Republicans, the once-reliable contingent of neoconservative such as Rep. Buck McKeon and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen refused to fall predictably in line with the strike.

For those who played it safe, the strategy paid dividends.

"The easiest thing to do was to keep your powder dry until you absolutely had to make a decision," a  Democratic  aide told The Cable, "And now those who did were rewarded by their patience."

John Hudson was a staff writer and reporter at Foreign Policy from 2013-2017.

Read More On Syria

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.