Nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles launched from an American destroyer late Thursday evening, pounding a Syrian airbase outside of Damascus. The punishing airstrike, delivered in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people, was in some ways remarkable. It marked President Trump’s most aggressive military action since assuming office — and an astounding about-face from his prior positions regarding the war-torn country. It was also the first attack against the regime of Bashar al-Assad itself by the U.S. military.

But in another way, it was an all-too familiar move among presidents this century: Trump did it without asking anyone for permission.

It’s been more than 14 years since Congress last authorized military action in a foreign country, when it gave the green light for the George W. Bush administration to invade Iraq. That hasn’t stopped White House administrations from raining down weapons from North Africa to Afghanistan since then in a series of escalating attacks.

Seven countries are currently in the crosshairs of American fighter jets, drones, and warships — all with limited oversight from lawmakers, whom the Constitution requires to approve such measures. Launched by the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9/11, these military operations expanded greatly during President Obama’s tenure and show no signs of abating under Trump. With the exception of the attack against the Assad regime, the targets are Islamist terror groups deemed national security threats to the U.S., its allies, and interests abroad.

American aircraft fired more than 26,000 bombs and missiles in 2016 alone, Obama’s final year in office, according to recent data compiled by Micah Zenko, an expert on U.S. military planning and operations who is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. More than 93 percent of these U.S. airstrikes focused on Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, where the jihadists have controlled vast swaths of territory since 2014. But they’ve also picked off al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, as well as Taliban, ISIS, and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

Despite repeated vows to avoid messy conflicts abroad, Trump appears to be plunging right into them. The Pentagon has already launched at least 70 airstrikes in Yemen under the new president — more than twice the number conducted during all of last year — and expanded its authority to wage attacks in Somalia. In February, American aircraft unleashed 200 bombs and missiles against targets in Afghanistan, military statistics show, marking only the fourth time since October 2014 that the U.S. fired that many weapons in the country in a single month.

Meanwhile, reports of civilian deaths from U.S. strikes in Syria and Iraq have hit an all-time high. Each of these military moves have thus far attracted limited outcries from lawmakers.

The news of the U.S. missile strike against the Assad regime, however, prompted a rare response Thursday night as Republicans and Democrats in Congress to demanded that the White House seek approval for this particular intervention. “The President needs Congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution,” said Republican Senator Rand Paul, echoing the calls made by more than a dozen lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. “While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked.”

Nor has it been since 2001.