By any measure, the War Powers Act has failed to constrain presidential warmaking. A simpler step would be to stop funding wars.
The Useless War Powers Act
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War Powers
These Lawmakers Are Trying to Curb Trump’s Authority to Launch a Nuclear War
Without so much as a vote by Congress, our whole planet could be destroyed.
In the ISIS War, Congress Surrendered the Last of Its Authority to Regulate U.S. Wars
When the president wants to fulfill a constitutional duty — like nominating a Supreme Court justice — Congress is up in arms. When he launches a blatantly unconstitutional war, it shrugs.
The Hill to the Rescue on Syria?
Sometimes history happens at the moment when no one is looking. On weekends in late August, the president of the United States ought to be playing golf or loafing at Camp David, not making headlines. Yet Barack Obama chose Labor Day weekend to unveil arguably the most...
Webb’s Parting Shots
To get elected to the Senate, you have to meet certain requirements. You have to be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for nine years, and a resident of the state you represent. Based on Jim Webb’s recent performance, I would like to propose a fourth requirement: you have to be a novelist. If we had 100 novelists in the Senate, the body might finally be able, like Webb, to distinguish fact from fiction.
Surprise War for Regime Change in Libya is the Wrong Path
The Obama administration set a bad precedent by launching a surprise war for regime change in Libya without congressional authorization or informed public debate, in violation of the letter and spirit of the War Powers Resolution enacted by Congress in 1973.
Blair to Brown: Something New Under the Sun?
Just over three weeks into the new regime of Gordon Brown, there is a new bounce and a sense of renewed optimism about these islands.
Rep. DeFazio: Don’t Attack Iran
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has been in Congress since 1986. In April 2006, he wrote a letter to President Bush to remind him that he must seek authorization from Congress before launching any preemptive attacks against Iran. He also introduced Resolution 391 to the same effect as well as a similar amendment to this year’s Defense Authorization Act (which was voted down). One year later, rumors of an upcoming U.S. military assault on Iran still abound, the latest from Russian intelligence that predicts a Good Friday attack. Here Rep. DeFazio talks of the congressional strategy to prevent a war with Iran.