War Powers (US)
War powers in the U.S. are divided between the President and the Congress. Image: The White House, official residence of the U.S. President.
Image: Capitol Hill, seat of the US Congress.
Declarations of War
The U.S. Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the president.
The War Powers clause of the Constitution (Art. 1, § 8, cl. 11) gives Congress the power to declare war.
Congress has used its power to declare war 11 times for five different wars.
The first instance was its declaration of war against the British Empire in 1812 which marked the start of the War of 1812.
The last time Congress formally declared war was during World War II.
On December 8, 1941, Congress resolved to declare war on Japan in response to its attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. This marked America's entry into World War II. You can view the joint resolution declaring war on Japan here.
Three days later, Congress would declare war on Germany and Italy. You can view the joint resolution declaring war on Germany here.
Then on June 3, 1942, Congress declared war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania.
Congress has not declared war since, despite America's involvement in numerous subsequent conflicts.
As discussed by the Congressional Research Service, Congress has instead opted to authorize the use of military force by the president without formally declaring war.
Some of these authorizations allowed for the use of force in a specific country while others authorized the use of force in a particular region.
Congress has passed legislation authorizing the use of military force in Formosa in 1955, the Middle East in 1957, Lebanon in 1983, Iraq in 1991, and Iraq again in 2002.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, one particular authorization used more nebulous language targeting "nations, organizations, or persons."
On September 18, 2001, Congress authorized the use of military force "against those nations, organizations, or persons [the president] determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks."
Conflicts Between Congress and The Presidency
Though only Congress can formally declare war, it actually shares war powers with the president.
This is because the Commander-in-Chief clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article II, § 2, cl. 1) states that the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
This division of war powers between the two branches has often led to tensions as to the president's ability to deploy military forces without congressional assent.
The War Powers Act
In the wake of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations successively deploying troops to participate in the Vietnam War without Congressional assent, Congress overrode a veto by President Nixon to pass the 1973 War Powers Act.
This Act sought to place limits on the president's authority to deploy troops without approval from Congress.
It requires the president to inform Congress of any decision to deploy troops within 48 hours of doing so if such deployment occurs in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war and the troops are deployed into hostilities, a situation in which hostilities appear imminent, in a foreign nation while equipped for combat (except if the deployment is for logistical or training purposes), or in numbers which "substantially enlarge" the number of troops already deployed in a foreign nation that are equipped for combat.
It also requires the president to withdraw troops deployed into hostilities or a situation in which hostilities appear imminent within 60 days if the deployment occurred in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war unless Congress authorizes an extension, has since declared war, or is physically unable to meet because of an attack on the United States.
Presidents that have held office since the passage of this Act have simply disregarded it, arguing that it is an unconstitutional attempt by Congress to limit the war powers granted to the president by the Commander-in-Chief clause.
Ongoing Conflict Over War Powers
The division of war powers between the two branches continues to be a subject of conflict.
For example, in late 2017 and early 2018 Congress debated America's role in an ongoing conflict in Yemen in which the U.S. provides intelligence and refueling to a Saudi-led bombing campaign, despite the absence of Congressional approval to do so.
The Obama and Trump administrations argued that they had the authority to allow such indirect involvement in the war without Congressional approval.
Some Members of Congress disagreed.
So in February 2018 several senators presented a war powers resolution that would have required troops in or "affecting" Yemen to withdraw within 30 days. However, the resolution was voted down in March of 2018.
Written By: Aiden Singh Published: July 28, 2020