War Powers

Using Force in Ukraine Requires Congressional Approval

by Michael D. Ramsey | Mar 2, 2022 | Constitution, Current Events, War Powers

Commentators are suggesting that the U.S. establish a no-fly zone in Ukraine, and perhaps take even stronger military action, in response to the Russian invasion. Putting aside the wisdom of those suggestions, the Constitution’s original meaning requires that...

Can the President Kill?

by Judge Andrew Napolitano | Jul 2, 2021 | Current Events, War Powers

Last weekend, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ordered the U.S. military to bomb targets in Syria and Iraq in an effort “to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message” to Iran. It is apparently the belief of the Biden administration — as it has been with...

The Power to Make War

by Judge Andrew Napolitano | Mar 10, 2021 | Current Events, War Powers

Two weeks ago, while the House of Representatives was finalizing its 700-page legislation authorizing the Treasury to borrow and spend $1.9 trillion in the next six months, and the Senate was attempting to confirm more of President Joseph R. Biden’s cabinet...

Trump’s Quiet Little War in Somalia

by Mike Maharrey | Oct 22, 2020 | Current Events, War Powers

Through the first seven months in 2020, the U.S. military under Pres. Donald Trump conducted 43 airstrikes in Somalia. That compares to 42 U.S. airstrikes in that country from 2007 to 2017. In other words, in just seven months, the Trump administration bombed Somalia...

Donald Trump and Syria: A Tough Lesson About Power

by Mike Maharrey | Oct 18, 2019 | Current Events, War Powers

President Donald Trump taught a lot of people a tough lesson about power. Within days of Trump announcing he was pulling troops out of northern Syria, Turkish forces launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in the region. Trump immediately came under sharp...

The Presidency and War Power

by Judge Andrew Napolitano | Oct 10, 2019 | Congress, Current Events, Executive Power, War Powers

Readers of this column are familiar with the concept of the separation of powers, which James Madison crafted as integral to the Constitution. That concept mandates that Congress writes the laws, the president enforces them, the courts decide what they mean and...

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The 10th Amendment

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

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