Yesterday, the US government launched a new round of airstrikes into Libya. While the Constitution mandates that Congress declares war, this new war is being waged on the “request” of United Nations-created government of Libya. The Constitution is quite clear on war power. Congress has the power to determine if the country will wage offensive…
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Obama administration used drones and manned warplanes to drop bombs and missiles on Somalia, killing at least 150 people. Today, we’ll cover 3 reasons this action was unconstitutional.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Mar. 16, 2016) – Today, an Arizona House committee passed a bill that would take a big step toward rejecting indefinite detention under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012, and other federal laws which claim to authorize using the laws of war domestically. Introduced by State Sen. Judy Burges, Senate Bill 1437 (SB1437) declares any attempts to use…
The answer, in my view, depends on whether the U.S. can be “at war” with a non-state actor such as the Sunni rebel force in Iraq. Here’s my analysis: (1) The President has executive power and commander-in-chief power, and thus can direct the military and conduct foreign relations, so long as he does not do…
At Volokh Conspiracy, Ilya Somin has a thoughtful response to my defense of the President’s action: More on the legality of Obama’s decision to exchange five high-ranking Taliban terrorists without giving Congress advance notice. He concludes: Perhaps Congress would be unduly infringing on the president’s powers as commander-in-chief if it tried to make individual tactical decisions on a…
Several excellent posts challenge the legality of the President’s exchange of five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo for a U.S. soldier held by the Taliban — see Josh Blackman here, Ilya Somin here (toward the bottom of the post), and especially Tim Sandefur here. As the posts explain, the exchange violated a U.S. statute that prohibits releasing any prisoners…
though the VA’s alleged abuse and neglect of US veterans is scandalous, the worse abuse comes from a president and a compliant Congress that send the US military to cause harm and be harmed overseas in undeclared, unnecessary, and illegal interventions.
Great overview on the President's unchecked and unconstitutional power to declare war: via Reason TV: As Barack Obama announces the beginning of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a far bigger issue - one that goes to the heart of American history and ...