January 3, 2022
Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
Re: “Biden to Ukrainian president: If Russia invades, U.S. ‘will respond decisively’” (News story by Meryl Kornfield, January 3, 2022)
To the Editor:
Contrary to President Joe Biden’s assumption, the President lacks unilateral authority to commit the United States to “respond decisively” if Russia invades Ukraine. Mr. Biden may be summoned against himself. In campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007 in an exchange with NBC’s Chris Matthews, then Senator Biden explained: “I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee for 17 years, or its ranking member. I teach separation of powers and constitutional law. This is something I know. So I got together and brought a group of constitutional scholars together to write a piece that I'm going to deliver to the whole United States Senate, pointing out the president has no constitutional authority to take this nation to war against a country of 70 million people, unless we're attacked or unless there is proof that we are about to be attacked.”
In the interval between 2007 and today, the Constitution did not change. But Mr. Biden did. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” as Lord Acton understood.
Sincerely,
Bruce Fein, associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan
300 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: 202-465-8728; 703-963-4968
Email: bruce@feinpoints.com