Doubling down on the position that the executive branch, despite what the US Constitution clearly says, has unilateral war-making powers, a new statement was issued by President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) objecting to the Senate’s vote on a challenge to the Yemen War.
The Senate vote, which passed on Wednesday, declared the war illegal on the grounds that Congress never authorized the US to go to war in Yemen. The statement argues that this is in violation of President Trump’s constitutional powers, saying it is inappropriate to “override the President’s determination as Commander-in-Chief.”
The point of the OMB statement was to say that “senior advisers’ are telling Trump to veto the Senate bill, which the White House had already indicated he would do anyhow. Why the OMB is issuing the statement is unclear, though OMB Director Mick Mulvaney is also President Trump’s acting Chief of Staff.
Either way, this underscores a very problematic position in the last several administrations on the president having largely unchecked power over military action. It is only now that Congress is making an unusual attempt to check a war they didn’t authorize.
Even the veto is problematic from a constitutional perspective. Congress is meant to have sole war-making power, and in both the House and Senate voting that Yemen War violates the War Powers Act, they are doing so. Having the president override the Congressional check through a veto was clearly not contemplated constitutionally.
The articles of impeachment sounds appropriate about now.
But also arbitrarily. The last few presidencies still posses way more comprehensive records of initiating and sustaining acts of aggression against other nations, without much of any Congress approval.
It would be more convincing if they’d vote for removing 50% of the bases world wide or end the War on Terror campaign. Something more meaningful related to actual wars starting and ending.
As it stands, all we see are political moves utterly void of antiwar meaning.
Previous presidents as well as our current president, beginning with Bush 2 justified their wars ‘legally’ on two (bad) Congressional resolutions passed after 9/11. Neither vetoed any Congressional resolution which commanded them to stop a war because there never was such a resolution. This is a completely different legal situation.
I disagree with “Analyzer” of what should happen if President Trump vetoes a Congressional resolution to get out of the war in Yemen and continues that involvement. There should not be an impeachment because that Congressional resolution is only a US law when signed by the President.
Hence Congress must attempt to override that veto. If that fails there is no law which forces President Trump to stop our involvement in the Yemen war.
If Congress overrides and President Trump obeys there is no Constitutional crisis. There is a crisis if he disobeys because he acts like King George II. Then an article of impeachment must be passed and the Senate must remove Trump from office.
In the first case: Trump vetoes and the veto holds there ought to be political consequences for the 2020 elections: “throw all the scoundrels out.”
Because this is such a murky situation Congress and then the nation must clear it up with a Constitutional amendment which spells out clearly what a President can and cannot veto.
Analyzer, analyze this #######@@@@@@…….////! 🙂
Congress is doing the President a huge favor. Now he can tell the Saudi’s that while he would love to help them fight in Yemen, his hands are tied. We can get out of that sh!thole and let the Saudi’s fight their own damn war.
Wouldn’t that require a president who actually wants us out of this mess?
End all the wars not declared by Congress via the Constitution.
This country has attacked/invaded/liberated-with-violence another nation about once every other year. Of these hundreds of kinetic actions about a dozen were legal. Fewer than that were moral. Congress needs to abolish the Overseas Contingencies mechanism that, by providing funds for “police actions”, makes declaring war less essential.
The founders deliberately gave the power to declare war exclusively to Congress. The Supreme Court let Congress abdicate that power since the Korean War and the power of the Presidency grew unchecked. Now the President is prosecuting a war over the express disapproval of Congress. This is another step toward an imperial presidency with the President waging wars and allocating funds over the express disapproval of the elected representatives. I hope the Supreme Court wakes up. But I doubt that they will. I guess it was like this in Rome when Julius became dictator and Augustus ursurped the powers of the Senate.
I recall something like this happening once before long ago in a galaxy far, far away. It did not end well for the emperor.