Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says “we’ve crossed the 60-day mark & the law says [Trump]’s got to start withdrawing troops – has 30 days to do it”

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) made several important points in this CNN interview earlier today; see below for video and highlights.

• “I don’t think it’s a question of of one’s opinion. I think the law is very clear. There’s no language in the War Powers Act recognizing a  pause in the 60-day time clock because of a ceasefire, partial or full. The War Powers Act is very clear – the clock starts 60 days from the beginning of hostilities. When you hit the 60-day mark, the president has 30 days to withdraw, 30 days for an orderly withdrawal. It’s clear that we’ve crossed the 60-day mark and the law says he’s got to start withdrawing troops – has 30 days to do it. Absent an authorization of force from Congress, that’s what the law says. My Republican colleagues, many of them 30 days ago were saying the same thing. They said, ‘Let’s wait till we get to the 60-day mark and then we’ll make a decision.’ Now that we’re at the 60-day mark, they gotten very, very quiet about it.
• “…so the question for us as a Congress, are we going to take seriously our constitutional authority to withhold funding for an unauthorized war? I count me as one who’s willing to do that. I think it’ll be a good question for my Republican colleagues if they take that responsibility seriously or not.”
• “We know that Vladimir Putin recognizes one thing, strength. And Donald Trump has time after time after time shown him weakness. And withdrawing 5,000 US troops from Germany because of the personal peak because Germany hasn’t participated in the war in Iran, I think is a huge, huge mistake. I’m hopeful that as we look at the defense authorization bill, the defense appropriations bill, that Republicans who have put out statements like that will uh put our money, put the taxpayers money where their mouths are and require the president to keep those troops in Germany.”
• “I think the reason we see those numbers record low approval numbers for President Trump is because he hasn’t kept the promises he made on the campaign trail, right? He promised to bring prices down. His policies, especially the war now, are driving prices up with gas prices heading to $5 a gallon. I think Democrats between now and November have to lay out a very clear, simple, and coherent agenda. If you put us in charge, give us control of the House and Senate. Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll focus on affordability first and accountability. Affordability,bringing down price of health care, bring down price of gas, bring down price of housing and education, and then accountability for the laws that have been violated in the Trump administration. the chaos that we’ve seen, I think the American people want to see a check on that and see that brought under control. That needs to be our focus.”
• “I think one of the reasons Democrats numbers in polling isn’t as strong as I hope it will be in the fall is there are a lot of Democratic aligned voters who have been frustrated. They don’t feel like there’s been enough action from Democrats in Congress, enough push back. We’ve got to do a better job of convincing them of that. I think as we get closer to the fall, you’ll see those numbers for Democrats improve. But no question, we have to do a better job of articulating what we will do if we’re in charge in Congress in January of 2027.”