Posted on 06/25/2025 6:31:34 AM PDT by george76
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., argued that the War Powers Act, a Nixon-era law limiting the president’s power to unilaterally wage war, is unconstitutional.
President Donald Trump’s decision to order strikes on Iranian nuclear targets over the weekend was “clearly” within his powers under Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution, Johnson said.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., alongside Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, has introduced a War Powers resolution that would bar the U.S. military from “unauthorized hostilities” in Iran.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., argued Tuesday that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional, and vowed that a pending resolution to bar U.S. military action in Iran under that law will not pass the House.
Johnson told reporters that President Donald Trump’s decision to order strikes on Iranian nuclear targets over the weekend was “clearly” within his powers under Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
Many constitutional scholars believe that the Nixon-era law, which limits the president’s power to unilaterally wage war, violates Article 2, Johnson said.
“I think that’s right,” he added.
...
The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, which it has not done with respect to the current conflict in the Middle East between Iran and Israel. But the legislative branch has not formally exercised that power since World War II.
The Constitution also makes the president the commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces, giving him significant sway over the use of the military. Previous presidents have taken military action without first seeking congressional approval, and some experts say neither Congress nor the courts are likely to do much to rein in Trump in response to the recent strikes.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying the armed forces in any case where war has not formally been declared. Under the law, the military use must end within 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an extension.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., alongside Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, last week introduced a War Powers resolution that would bar the U.S. military from “unauthorized hostilities” in Iran.
The attack on the Iranian Nuke facilities was not warfare, it was a commando strike on a terrorist target!
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., argued that the War Powers Act, a Nixon-era law limiting the president’s power to unilaterally wage war, is unconstitutional.
President Donald Trump’s decision to order strikes on Iranian nuclear targets over the weekend was “clearly” within his powers under Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution, Johnson said.
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The War Powers Act is a compromise that allows the President limited authority to engage in military actions outside of official declarations of war. Without it, the President would not have such authority...only Congress can declare war.
The attack on the Iranian Nuke facilities was not warfare, it was a commando strike on a terrorist target!
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No sarcasm tag?
The 911-attackers would argue the same thing.
Obama loved bombing everything he could. He told people he enjoyed the power. He even droned Americans. America bombed Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Iran and now the argument over war powers? It’s funny that the isolationist MAGA share the same talking points as the anti-Israel Democrats and Iran boot lickers. This narrative that this is war is complete BS.
Congress’s effort to remove the powers of the president so they can stop the programs to repel illegal aliens. By taking the ability of the president to engage in actions to protect the citizenry by removing his command and control of the military is how they can stop the assistance of the ICE operation knowing the states are hiding and and protecting illegals. Trump had the justification to attack Iran as they have murdered numerous American citizens:
In July 2002, five American students were killed in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem, carried out by Hamas, an Iranian-backed terror group.
In October 2003, three U.S. diplomatic personnel were killed in a bombing in Gaza by the Iran-backed Popular Resistance Committees.
In August 2003, five Americans were killed in a Hamas suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem.
In August 2006, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group, killed American citizen Michael Levin during the Second Lebanon War.
In December 2019, a rocket attack by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia, on a military base near Kirkuk, Iraq, killed a U.S. civilian contractor and wounded four U.S. service members.
In October 2023, the Iranian-backed group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing more than 40 Americans and taking several U.S. citizens hostage, according to the American Jewish Committee. Several hostages were later confirmed murdered by Hamas, including Itay Chen, Gad Haggai, Judy Weinstein Haggai, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
In January 2024, a drone strike launched by Kataib Hezbollah killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 40 others at a military base in Jordan.
The only real questions is why wasn’t something done before this. And tacking on a nuclear threat from a country that has enriched 3 times the amount needed above industrial grade while saying they are going to use it on Americans more than justifies the need for the taking out of their facilities. And thanks to Obama and Biden giving them the funds to accomplish this threat, we may have been too late already.
wy69
Many on FR now are too young to know what was going on in 1973, but among other disgusting media things, Congress leaked like a freaking sieve.
So the Resolution did nothing for the benefit of the U.S., but gave our enemies plenty of lead time to figure out how to counteract or avoid pending American military action. All they had to do was read our newspapers, or watch the congressional coverage from ABC, CBS, or NBC.
Congress still leaks like a sieve. The media is still anti-American.
Case closed.
THAT is unconstitutional..................
The President should be limited to singular or limited actions. Anything more and you are risking a monarchy.
You’re right. Pretty much anything passed between 1972 and 1974 was done to take advantage of a weakened by Watergate Nixon. If you want to know why funds that have been allocated by Congress must be spent, look no further than Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and so on. The Democrats and the media successfully. pulled off that coup against Nixon and have been trying to replicate it ever since.
When the Constitution was written, the "nation's armed forces" were primarily a navy. The U.S. did not have a sizable standing army that could be deployed unilaterally by the President -- especially in places far removed from the continental states. During times of crisis, the formal declaration of war by Congress established the legal grounds for the President to call upon states to raise their own militia units and place them under federal authority.
This all ended with the Civil War, when state militias were replaced by a full-time military force that was under the control of a centralized federal government.
Someone should have a talk with Massie. Set him straight.
This.
Incisive and right on point.
And it is not just blue states. Red states have some isolated sanctuary counties of their own that are so blatant about it, they would make some blue states blush.
UnConstitational though the War Powers Act may be, it is still the law, and has not been heard by the Supreme Court. Not even challenged, for the most part, in district Federal courts, but I may be speaking too soon.
Use the tools at hand, rusty and flimsy as they might be, because you never get a chance for a do-over if those tools are simply thrown away.
My thoughts are the Dims would never use it anyway. Only a republican president would. No libertarian prez would either.
Whew.....Massie
In my mind, the only business of war that Congress has...is to allot money and occasionally be informed....AFTER....not before an "event".
They declare war at the request of the President.
That’s absurd..
It was an act of war regardless of the target.
The 73 War Powers Act ought to be abolished.
Nixon was a terrible President.
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