Reps. Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, AOC, and Cori Bush join 39 other lawmakers to urge Biden to seek congressional approval before sending troops into Ukraine

• Forty-three lawmakers asked Biden to get congressional approval before sending troops into Ukraine.
• The lawmakers, some of whom have acrimonious histories, cosigned a letter to the president.

Forty-three lawmakers from both sides of the aisle signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to obtain approval from Congress before sending US troops to intervene in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The letter, dated Tuesday, was signed by Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush and Trump-allied GOP representatives including Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar. It called for Biden to abide by the Constitution and seek congressional authorization before sending US troops to "engage in hostilities."

"We strongly urge your administration to respect the separation of powers, U.S. law, and Congress's constitutional war powers authority," the letter read.

"Should your administration seek to introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities or decline to remove any U.S. military personnel currently deployed inside Ukraine from unauthorized hostilities or imminent hostilities, Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios," it added.

"The American people, through their representatives in Congress, deserve to have a say before U.S. troops are placed in harm's way or the U.S. becomes involved in yet another foreign conflict," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter represents a rare instance in which progressive Democrats and far-right GOP representatives have jointly called for action.

Some of the signees have recently been embroiled in personal spats. In November, for instance, Gosar posted an anime clip edited to show himself slaying Ocasio-Cortez in monstrous form. Also in November, Bush called for the expulsion of three House Republicans — including Gosar — who'd indicated they'd offer Kyle Rittenhouse an internship after the 18-year-old was found not guilty in the shooting deaths of two men.

The lawmakers' letter came amid escalating tensions surrounding the Ukraine-Russia crisis. On Tuesday, Biden warned Russia that the US and its allies would "defend every inch of NATO territory." He also announced that additional US troops would be headed to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.