War Powers
White House Releases Annual Report and Notice Concerning Legal and Policy Frameworks for War Powers
On April 4, the Biden administration released the
Throughout history, presidents and congresses have jockeyed for control over war powers. Article I of the Constitution grants Congress the exclusive authority to declare war, while Article II names the President as “Commander in Chief” of the army, navy and militia. The jockeying reached a watershed moment of congressional assertiveness with the passage of the 1973 War Powers Act. Since then, however, presidential war-making power has been in a state of near-constant expansion—an expansion only accelerated by overseas counterterrorism actions and recent presidential military actions in Libya and Syria.
Latest in War Powers
On April 4, the Biden administration released the
On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on reclaiming congressional war powers.
On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, at 11:00 a.m., the House Rules Committee will hold a hearing on reforming the War Powers Resolution.
Join us for a discussion about the Biden administration's views on war powers issues.
On Feb. 25, Biden ordered airstrikes against targets in eastern Syria. His subsequent letter to Congress under the War Powers Resolution is notable in several ways.
Amidst an ongoing debate over aging AUMFs, how does the president view the war powers? Biden's long tenure in the federal government suggests that while he might claim broad war authority, he will not use major force absent significant congressional support.
An ongoing foreign policy debate over whether the United States should clarify a security guarantee to Taiwan needs to consider Congress's role in such a policy.
We filed a lawsuit to force President Trump to comply with his war powers reporting obligations under the law—and we won.
On Oct. 20, 2020, the Trump administration publicly released the unclassified portion of a long-overdue report on the legal and policy frameworks for the use of military force.
Professor Stephen Griffin (of Tulane) and I have posted to SSRN what we’re calling our free “model casebook chapter” on constitutional war powers.