Editorial: Congress must reclaim war power

Yahoo

2 days ago

Editor's note: This editorial originally ran in fellow CNHI paper the Joplin, Missouri, Globe.
Congress has been dropping the ball for years. It needs to reclaim its authority among the three branches of the federal government; in fact, the Constitution lists the legislative first among equals for a reason. It first lays out the duties and powers of the legislative branch, then outlines the authority and responsibilities of the executive and judicial branches.
Intended to be the branch that most closely represents the will of the people, it instead has been captured by partisans beholden to party and president. With the power to challenge even controversial rulings by the Supreme Court through legislation or proposing amendments to the Constitution, it instead seems to duck its responsibilities and give away its power.
The founders implemented a government of divided authority and responsibility — divided power between not just the three federal branches but also the states — to limit the risk of runaway government.
Congress' tendency for years now has been to cede its power to the other branches. Legislation written to counter questionable rulings by the high court has all but stopped, and we haven't seen a constitutional amendment proposed in generations.
Lawmakers have been actually energetic in giving away their power to the executive branch, actively writing laws that hand over their authority to increasingly imperial presidents. After all, bearing the responsibilities of the legislative branch carries much more risk than posturing and bloviating while dodging those things for which a Congress member might be held to account.
As we said in an earlier editorial about Congress yielding its tariff authority to presidents, 'How the nation drifted is a long and legal story, but most Americans recognize that central to that story is the failure of members of Congress to get in the game.'
Though game is really much too gentle a term for Congress yielding its most deadly authority — the constitutional power to declare war and to establish, regulate and fund the instruments of war. The recent action by President Donald Trump in bombing Iran without congressional approval — regardless of whether history ends up showing the action vindicated — is just the latest example of Congress abdicating its authority.
U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8: 'The Congress shall have Power To … declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces …'
The founders separated the war powers for a reason, making the president the commander in chief of the armed forces when they are called into action — a power to carry out a war Congress declares. While we understand the occasional modern need for rapid emergency action, the president's authority should not extend to singular action without Congress.
Congress granted the president the authority to make rapid strikes in emergencies but requires Congress, or at least key members with national security oversight, to be informed beforehand. and lawmakers retained the right to review and end such conflicts. Presidents over the years have continued to stretch this power beyond the scope of the original law and to call things emergencies for which they rightly should have sought approval.
It is time for lawmakers to revisit Congress' use of force authorization, to tighten and redefine it and insist that no executive have the unilateral power to launch a war.