National Security and Foreign Affairs

Saying they fear President Trump with his finger on the nuclear trigger, two congressional Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday that would prevent the White House from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war from Capitol Hill.

Sen. Edward J. Markey and Rep. Ted W. Lieu said their bill was designed to put a check on Mr. Trump, who during the presidential campaign had sent mixed signals on his thoughts about nuclear proliferation and the possibility of a U.S. first strike.

Treaties and official agreements between nations designed to solve a particular problem are notoriously tricky to create and then police, but measuring their success is normally pretty simple. Either they work well, or not at all.

What has come to be called the U.S.-China Cyber Agreement, however, has not fallen neatly into either category. The general consensus in government and private circles is that the number of cyberattacks emanating from China appears to have declined, though in fact thosere attacks are still taking place.

Senator Ed Markey and Rep. Ted Lieu introduced legislation intended to prevent President Donald Trump from using nuclear weapons in a first-strike scenario without the explicit approval of Congress on Tuesday.

The legislation is titled the "Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017." The two legislators issued a press statement on the bill co-signed by William Perry, who served as secretary of defense in former President Bill Clinton's administration.

Shortly before noon on Friday a military aide will enter the Capitol with President Obama carrying a leather-covered aluminum briefcase with the information and equipment needed to launch nuclear war. Precisely at noon, control of that briefcase will pass to a man who has been described by scores of security experts in his own party as lacking the judgment, temperament and knowledge to command nuclear weapons.

Whatever happened at the end of a classified briefing Friday morning has rattled Democratic members of Congress, leaving the American public to wonder what exactly is going on in the upper echelons of the U.S. government.