Congress realizes maybe it’s a bad idea to let presidents declare war unilaterally after decades of letting it slide

Multiple times during Donald Trump’s second presidency, Congress has debated his military authority, first in Latin America and now the Middle East.

The latest test will come in the GOP-controlled House on Thursday after the Senate voted down a Democratic measure to limit Trump, at least theoretically, in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Like many predecessors, Trump claims broad, even unlimited power over U.S. forces. He approved boat strikes near Venezuela, established a naval blockade and authorized a military operation to arrest and depose its leader, Nicolás Maduro — all arguable acts of war under international law. He made noise about additional action in Greenland and Latin America, before launching a sweeping bombing campaign in Iran.

Under the Constitution, the military reports to the president. But the document grants oversight roles to Congress. Trump says he won’t sign anything limiting his options — proof for some experts that control over a civilian-led military has skewed from its original design.

“The Constitution gives war powers to two different branches of government,” said military historian Peter Mansoor, an Ohio State University professor and retired U.S. Army colonel. “The pendulum has swung towards the executive,” he lamented, arguing that “the framers meant for Congress to be the most powerful branch.”

Here is a look at what the Constitution says and how U.S. war powers have played out.

What the constitution says about war powers

Article I, which established Congress, states that lawmakers “shall have power … to declare war.” Article II, which established the presidency, makes the chief executive the “commander in chief of the Army and Navy.” The Constitution also gives Congress authority over military budgets.

Congress has not declared an official state of war since World War II. Yet since 1945, U.S. service members have fought and died in full-scale conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places.

In the........

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