El Congreso de EEUU debate los poderes de guerra de Trump – Chicago Tribune
By BILL BARROW
At several points during Donald Trump’s second presidency, Congress has debated his military authority, first in Latin America and now in the Middle East.
The attempt was the latest to bring young people to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives after the Senate took a Democratic step to limit Trump, at least in theory, in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Like many of his predecessors, Trump claims to have extensive, including unlimited, power over United States forces. After attacking shipping to Venezuela, establishing a naval blockade and authorizing a military operation to arrest and remove its leader, Nicolás Maduro — all questionable acts of war under international law. He made additional actions in Greenlandia and Latin America, before launching a major bomber campaign in Iran.
According to the Constitution, the armed forces will answer to the president. But the document extends to Congress’ oversight functions. Trump says that there is no company that limits his options, that is, for some experts, this is a study to verify that the control of the armed forces led by civilians was designed by their original design.
“The Constitution sets the stage for war against separate kings of government,” said military historian Peter Mansoor, an Ohio State University professor and retired U.S. colonel. “The pendulum is inclined to go towards the Ejecutivo,” he laments, maintaining that “the editors claim that Congress will have the most powerful power.”
Following this, a view of what the Constitution says is how the war powers of the United States were established.
What the Constitution says about the powers of war
Article I, which establishes Congress, states that legislators “shall extend power…to declare war.” Article II, which establishes the presidency, convierte al jefe del Ejecutivo to the “commander in chief of the ejército y la Marina”. The Constitution also gives Congress authority over military matters.
Congress did not declare the official state of the world war. Soldiers of the United States Armed Forces have fought and died in large-scale conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among other places, since 1945.
In the mission against Maduro, a pilot deportation took place, which allowed Trump to concede the Medal of Honor, a recognition that, by law, it restricted actions taken in combat against a foreign enemy. By mid-year, six members of the United States armed forces had died in the war against Iran.
During last month’s Senate debate on Venezuela, Sen. Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, made an “elaborate scene” and claimed it was “absurd” to argue that Trump’s actions were other things that were waging war.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who championed the war powers resolutions against Venezuela and Iran, said the most recent version — the 47-53 smash — prevented a president from making a decision to elect the Constitution.
Declarations of war: 11, but anywhere since World War II
Congress declared war on 11 nations in all five wars. Three declarations will be issued in the 19th century, two during the First World War and six during the Second World War. On each occasion, the president has been formally in Congress taking action, citing a specific attack against the United States or other national interests.
President James K. Polk also tapped him for the war against Mexico, which focused primarily on expanding the territory of the United States.
During this same period, Congress voted repeatedly to authorize the use of force without declaring war. The first measures refer only to specific naval actions to defend U.S. commercial interests. Congress first returned to this era in 1798; it became a day’s drive for the era after the Segunda Guerra Mundial.
The Korean War marked a turn in presidential power
Former President Harry Truman declared World War II in statements issued during the Franklin Roosevelt era. Then, in 1950, the Unidas Unidas nations voted to act in Korea and helped member countries.
Invoking the UN, Truman compromised too much of the United States into “political action” without seeking approval from lawmakers. Later, even a year later, Congress approved the Defense Production Act to mobilize the basic capability of the United States. This is an after-the-fact response to Truman’s decision, and the law remains a potential tool of the Pentagon.
Vietnam shows the power of Congressman and President
Presidents from Dwight Eisenhower made Gerald Ford remember that the history of the “Vietnam War” was called “the Vietnam Conflict” by making the United States administrations amplify operations in Southeast Asia.
Lyndon Johnson persuaded Congress to approve the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 and use it to expedite U.S. participation.
In order to increase the deaths of the States, the war became unpopular, but Johnson – and later Richard Nixon – countered with an authority otorgada extended by the legislators. “The Congress has recognized and responded to the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to repel all military aggression against the forces of the United State and to prevent further aggression,” the 1964 resolution stated.
Congress waived this measure in 1971, but Nixon did not retire.
Mansoor said declarations of war alone do not define the start of a war. Also, in practice, it requires a final official, so that it activates the paper of the Senate during the ratification of the peace treaties. Eluding these legal limits, Mansoor asserted, is “like ending in these endless wars.”
Congress responds with the Ley de Poderes de Guerra
In 1973, as the United States struggled to exit Vietnam, Congress approved the warlords’ resolution, intending to impose limits on presidents to require precise communications with lawmakers and allow Congress to take votes to make fijar. parameters of military action. This is the legislative mechanism that was activated this year for the erroneous resolutions concerning Venezuela and the resolutions concerning Iran.
In 2020, a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed, for example, a measure intended to register Trump’s credentials before Iran at that time. But, in practice, the War Powers Resolution did not serve as a functional check on executive power.
After Vietnam, presidents confirmed their pope as commander in chief
Ronald Reagan sent tropes to Lebanon in 1982 as part of a multinational peace management force. He did not cite the warlords’ resolution to notify Congress and did not accept congressional authorization until 1983, after he was killed by members of the armed forces.
In 1990, George HW Bush notified Congress, due to war leadership resolve, that he had sent tropa to the Middle East after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Bush was called to Congress in place of the authorization, just after assuming UN responsibility for action by an international coalition led by United States forces. Congress authorized the use of force in January 1991.
Bill Clinton devastated several United States on several occasions, in Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Iraq. Congress has been given presupposed powers, but no explicit authorization. As some lawmakers pressured Clinton to agree to approve attacks in Iraq in 1998, Clinton defended her interpretation of presidential authority, without distancing herself from Trump’s arguments.
Bush declared 9/11 an act of war, but there was never a declaration
George W. Bush moved quickly to mobilize the armed forces against the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He was quickly consulted by Congress and obtained a joint resolution authorizing wide-ranging action. It was unique because it was not designated for a specific country and the principle was central to Al Qaeda. Congress responded to the decision unanimously, but informed it every 60 days.
Mansoor, the military historian, noted that Bush used the vote to lead counterterrorism forces in any part of the world. Bush attended Congress in 2002 and told leaders they needed authorization to act against Iraq.
While Congress approved for Bush there is no request for effective finalization. His successor, Barack Obama, inherited tropas in Iraq and in principle retired. Afghanistan continued through Obama’s two terms, Trump’s first presidency, and Joe Biden’s term.
Biden withdrew US troops from Afghanistan after engaging in America’s largest undeclared war in the country’s history.
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This story was translated into English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
