Bacon, Guns & Whiskey

Article 1, Section 8 says, in part, “[t]he Congress shall,have the Power To … declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water … provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions…”

In using the term “declare war,” the Congressional history of the Founders’ intentions noted that “[]he first draft of the Constitution considered in Philadelphia in 1787 would have given Congress the power to make war, but the Framers substituted the word declare in what James Madison described as an effort to ensure that the President was empowered to repel sudden attacks. Under Congress’s interpretation of the Constitution, the President may introduce troops into hostile circumstances if Congress has (1) declared war, (2) specifically authorized the President to use force, or (3) there is a national emergency created by an attack on the United States or its territories. The executive branch claims much broader authority and asserts that the Constitution empowers the President to initiate and engage in many types of military action without congressional authorization.” [Emphasis mine.]

In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act which was intended to curb the liberal interpretation of Article 2, Section 2, which says that the President “shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…”

But yet Presidents have started wars — often lasting years or decades without Congress doing anything other than rubber-stamping the money to pay for the wars they had nothing to do with declaring as the Constitution requires.

Trump’s wars are merely symptoms of Congress’ laziness and incompetence.