\n<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON — <\/span>Senate Democrats have filed legislation that would prevent the U.S. from attacking Cuba without congressional approval as they seek to force a vote on President Donald Trump’s<\/a> stated goal of a \u201ctakeover\u201d of the Caribbean country.<\/p>\n Democrats have repeatedly used war powers resolutions to force debate on Trump’s foreign policy<\/a> moves, though Republicans have so far mostly backed the president. The resolution filed Thursday by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine, Ruben Gallego and Adam Schiff would require the president to remove the military from any hostilities with Cuba and could potentially receive a vote by the end of the month.<\/p>\n “Only Congress has the power to declare war under the Constitution, but he operates with the belief that the U.S. military is a palace guard, ordering military action in the Caribbean, Venezuela, and Iran without Congress\u2019 authorization or any explanation for his actions to the American people,\u201d Kaine said in a statement.<\/p>\n Trump said earlier this week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was negotiating with Cuba’s leadership as the country faces a crippling energy crisis<\/a> that has been exacerbated by a U.S. blockade of the island.<\/p>\n \u201cIt may be a friendly takeover, \u2060it may not be a friendly takeover,\u201d Trump told reporters<\/a> this week at a news conference in Florida. He added that he and Rubio would focus on that goal after the war with Iran.<\/p>\n The U.S. for decades has had a tense relationship with Cuba, but Trump’s turn to using military action to take out foreign opponents has raised anticipations that the island could be next. Rubio, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the 1950s, has long pushed for the U.S. to aggressively oppose the Caribbean nation’s leadership.<\/p>\n