The deep involvement of the United States in the War of Israel-Iran, 12 days old, which may not be over despite a declared ceasefire, has rekindled a secular confrontation between the Congress and the President: who has the power to launch an American military offensive-if not a pure war-against another country?
The debate became particularly charged last weekend, when the United States bombed the Iranian nuclear installations in support of its ally, Israel, without prior authorization from the Congress. In its root is an inherent conflict within the American Constitution, which allows only the Congress to declare war, but makes the president commander -in -chief of the armed forces.
The Trump administration informed the best Republican legislators and the Senate Democrat chief on Saturday evening before the American bombing of Iranian nuclear installations early Sunday morning. But it was not a request for authorization or an official declaration of war; It was a tête-à-tête. Meanwhile, the best Democrats in Congress said on Tuesday that they were not yet clear about the president’s decision and strategy.
Why we wrote this
Iran’s strikes raise questions about the question of whether President Donald Trump’s actions correspond to the intention of the constitution and the resolution of war powers, but the Republicans stand mainly to the president.
“This Trump is different from Trump 1.0 – more ready to use military domination, more willing to assert its authority by military actions at the national and international level,” explains Harold Koh, professor of the law faculty of Yale and former legal adviser of the State Department during the Obama administration.
“The Congress must make a serious effort to assert his authority here, or he keeps taking the trouble to consult,” adds Professor Koh.
The last time the Congress made an official declaration of war was in 1941, when it entered the Second World War after the attack of America at Pearl Harbor. Under the more recent presidents, a legal mechanism called an authorization for the use of military force – a joint resolution of the congress which authorizes the president to use the American armed forces in a specific military action – was the functional equivalent.
In the perspective of the current hostilities of the US-Iran, President Donald Trump has kept the world to guess if he would join Israel’s efforts to neutralize what he considered an imminent nuclear threat of Iran. The answer only became clear after the end of the American mission, the American bombers had left Iranian airspace and President Trump followed a statement on his social media site.
A coat of secret may have been necessary to withdraw the attack. But with the prospect of continuing the war, including potentially more Iranian reprisals on the American bases in the Middle East, the debate rages on the role of the congress as a coequal branch of the government.
Opinions on the Constitution, separated by the part
At the time of an intense political polarization, most of the Congress members fell along the party. An aberrant value, the republican representative, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, responded frankly on the social platform X to the announcement of Mr. Trump on Saturday evening of a “very successful attack” against three Iranian sites: “It is not constitutional”, he wrote.
On the other hand, the Republican President of the Mike Johnson Chamber said on Tuesday that strikes on Iranian nuclear installations were “clearly in the powers of President Trump II” in the American Constitution as Commander -in -Chief. Consequently, the speaker added that it was the resolution of the war powers of 1973, which obliges the president to gain the consent of the congress before committing American forces in combat, which is unconstitutional.
Some Democrats are just as categorical as legislative power is the only branch authorized to commit the American forces to fight.
“The Constitution is clear. Only Congress has the power to declare war,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts said in Monitor. “The President of the United States has no authority under the Constitution to attack another nation, in the absence of an emergency and a need to protect American troops, American citizens or the fatherland.”
However, the Democrats do not move in locking, with a frustration expressing that others have not connected to the resolutions developed in the Senate by the Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia and the Chamber by the Massie representative and the Democratic representative Ro Khanna of California.
Francis Chung / Politico / AP
Massie-Khanna’s measure would block American military involvement in war, but Massie said on Monday that he would withdraw the resolution if there was a cease-fire.
Democratic representatives Jim Himes, Gregory Meeks and Adam Smith presented a separate resolution on Monday to cease hostilities in Iran in the authorization of Congress. The Meeks representative said to the instructor that the new resolution closes a “escape” in the resolution of Massie-Khanna who, he said, would have prevented the United States from defending allies if they were attacked.
In addition, a handful of democrats in the progressive chamber – including the representative Alexandria Ocasio -Cortez in New York – called for the accusation of Mr. Trump on the bombing of Iran, but the management of the room has bypassed the suggestion.
After Israel and Iran announced a ceasefire, they continued to tackle the territory of the other.
Trump, speaking to journalists early Tuesday as he left the White House for a NATO summit in The Hague, used blasphemies – rare for a president to be publicly – when he expressed his frustration about the war.
“They don’t know what the [redacted] They are doing, “said the president, who campaigned last year to finish” Forever Wars “.
Waiting for news from the Iranian nuclear program
The postponement of classified briefings on the war of the two chambers of the congress by congress by also delayed measures on Capitol Hill. A key question is the state of the Iranian nuclear program after the American bombardment. The Senate briefing was reprogrammed for Thursday, while the chamber briefing calendar remains uncertain.
Senator Kaine, who sponsored a resolution of war powers to prevent Trump from taking new military measures in Iran without approval from the congress, said on Monday that he expected the briefing to be an important factor in the decisions of certain members.
Republican senator Mike des Rounds du Dakota du Sud, addressing the instructor, said that the slowness of the congress to act pleads in favor of leaving war decisions to the president.
“I think the founding fathers presented this correctly,” said Senator Rounds. “We have a commander -in -chief. You cannot have the congress today to hold what would be a very important element to protect our national interests according to the speed of the debate to which the Congress moves. ”
“We can debate it later,” he adds.
However, align the support of the congress before military action can strengthen the hand of a president, explains Curtis Bradley, professor of law at the University of Chicago and expert in foreign relations.
“Sometimes the presidents are stronger if they can show opponents”, I have not only me behind it; I have the complete legislative branch to represent the American people, ”explains Professor Bradley.
