The legislation, called the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, "would prohibit the president from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress," Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey and California Rep. Ted Lieu, both Democrats, announced in a news release Tuesday.
"Neither President Trump, nor any other president, should be allowed to use nuclear weapons except in response to a nuclear attack," Markey said in a statement.
This isn't the first time the lawmakers have taken aim at nuclear first strikes. Markey and Lieu also attempted to introduce the legislation last fall after Trump said he wouldn't "take anything off the table" regarding nuclear weapons, The Week reported.
"Our founders created a system of checks and balances, and it is essential for that standard to be applied to the potentially civilization-ending threat of nuclear war," Lieu said in a statement that also blasted Trump's "ignorance of the nuclear triad" and criticized his "sweeping statements about U.S. nuclear policy over Twitter."
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