Iran – U.S. House Voted to Restrict Presidential War Powers

The vote this week was 215-208 to impose limitations pursuant to the War Powers Act of 1973 upon President Trump’s conduct of hostile action against Iran. Two problems:

First – there isn’t a snowball’s chance in Hell that this vote will make it thru the Senate….and if by some miracle it does, President Trump will NEVER sign it into law. That means Congress will have to vote to override Trump’s veto, which will require 2/3rds vote of BOTH chambers. Never happen. So, this entire activity was a charade.

Second – and this is the Big One…the War Powers Act itself is plainly unconstitutional. The only reason it has survived on the books this long is because no president so far has bothered to take it to the Supreme Court to be put out of its misery. That said, if any president might be inclined to challenge it, it’s this one, Donald Trump. And here’s why it’s unconstitutional – no co-equal branch of government can limit the constitutional authorities of another co-equal branch of government. Period.

But first, let’s look at the Constitution to see who has which powers.

As everyone knows, Art II, Section 2 delegates authority to the President to be the Commander in Chief of the military. Consequently, there is NO higher authority in the military chain of command. No one above him, and no one outside of that chain of command, can direct or manage the operation of US troops in combat. No one. That includes introducing troops to a fight, telling them how to fight, and telling them when to stop fighting.

On the other hand, Art I, Section 8 delegates authority to Congress to declare war, to raise, support, provide and maintain the military, and to provide for calling forth the militia. So, Congress is constitutionally empowered to build the military, so to speak, while the President is constitutionally empowered to employ the military. (We’ll get to “declare war” in a minute.)

But how does the War Powers Act operate?

First, it “requires” the president to report to Congress within 48 hours of introducing troops to hostile action. Look for a 48-hour notification requirement ANYWHERE in the Constitution. It doesn’t exist.

Second, it “provides” that the president can commit troops to hostilities for up to 30 days, and another 30 days to withdraw the troops. So, 60 days. Find a 30-day or 60-day limitation in the Constitution. Look on every page. You’ll never find one.

Third, in the event withdrawal cannot be accomplished within those 60 days, it “gives” the president another 30-day period to withdraw troops. So, 90 days total. Again, where is there any 90-day limitation in the Constitution? Nowhere. No such thing exists.

Okay, Audino, but Congress has the authority to declare war, and the president cannot commit troops to combat prior to that. Not so fast. Congress absolutely has the power to declare war, but “declare” is not permission…it is an acknowledgement that a state of war exists. Our history proves the point…in our 250 years as a nation, our presidents have committed troops to hostile action nearly 300 times. In that same time, how many wars has Congress declared? Five.

• War of 1812
• Mexican-American War
• Spanish-American War
• WWI
• WWII.

Why is this so? Because the drafters of our constitution knew that not every fight rose to the level of war, and that the hard realities of national security meant that the president should not have to wait on anyone else before acting to violently secure our vital national interests. If Congress thinks otherwise, it can always choose to stop funding the military.

So, if anyone was advantaged by this entire waste of time/resources on the Hill this week, it wasn’t us…it was the Iranian Regime. They will be emboldened by a US Congress acting to undermine its own President’s efforts to act (lawfully and constitutionally) to secure our vital national interests. I hope those Oscar Winners on the Hill are happy with themselves and with their little charade.

We discussed all of the above AND the Iran situation on the Frontlines Report this week. My guest is Andrew Ghalili, whose career has been in security & intelligence, and he now serves as the Director of Policy for the National Union for Democracy in Iran. He works closely with Iranian Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi (son of the late Shah of Iran). You will hear some inside skinny on Iran! Click on the link to listen to our discussion: https://frontlinesoffreedom.com/show-963/