While the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and Iran’s symbolic retaliation have each commanded the global media’s attention, a related but overlooked drama is playing out in Washington.
Following the strikes, the Senate voted against a bill that would have required Congressional authorization for any further offensive strikes on Iran. In the House of Representatives, Speaker Mike Johnson has blocked a vote on a similar bill. This debate (which has Republicans and Democrats on either side) is not primarily about American policy regarding Iran. It is, rather, a disagreement about whether Congress ought to have a say in when and whether America goes to war.
Congress has abdicated its responsibility in matters of war and peace for so long that it now requires an act of the imagination to remember the constitutional design for matters of war. Conventional wisdom now holds that Congress is powerless in the face of a president who seeks to deploy American forces in combat. Indeed, Congress has not declared a war since 1942. Meanwhile, presidents of both parties have declared the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to be an unconstitutional limitation of executive power. The Supreme Court has often sided with wartime presidents on questions of how much discretion the executive ought to have in a time of crisis. Mike Johnson called the War Powers Act an unconstitutional limitation on executive authority. In this environment it is reasonable to ask what can Congress do to reassert its authority when a president wants to go to war.
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