President Biden's flip-flop on war powersIt is not that he loves the Constitution less, but that he craves limitless power more
September 17, 2023 Letters to the Editor Bruce Fein's Pioneering Lyceum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The New York Times Re: “How Biden’s View of Presidential Military Authority Has Broadened,” (News story by Charlies Savage, Maggie Haberman, and Jonathan Swan, A22, September 23, 2023) In the U.S. Senate, Joe Biden fiercely opposed presidential war powers as unconstitutional. He endorsed the universal understanding of the Constitution’s architects as expressed by President George Washington that only Congress could authorize the offensive use of the military. President Washington elaborated, “The Constitution vests the power of declaring war with Congress; therefore, no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject, and authorized such a measure.” Senator Biden championed the 1973 War Powers Resolution that handcuffs the President’s unilateral use of the military except in self-defense. In 2007, Mr. Biden promised to seek impeachment of President George W. Bush if he attacked Iran without a congressional declaration of war. But as Vice President and President, Mr. Biden had done a 180 in renouncing the Constitution in favor of limitless presidential war powers. In 2011, he supported President Barck Obama’s aggression against Libya (after Muammar Gaddafi had abandoned WMD) without congressional authorization or specifically appropriated funds. As President, Mr. Biden has repeatedly voiced his intent unilaterally to undertake war against Russia if a NATO member is attacked or against China if Taiwan is attacked. President Biden’s distinction between major or minor wars is both unmoored from the Constitution and illusory. President Harry Truman characterized the Korean War involving millions of casualties and more millions of Chinese soldiers as a “police action” not requiring a congressional declaration. To borrow from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, it is not that Mr. Biden has come to love the Constitution less, but that he has come to covet power more that he has made the Declare War Clause a homonym. Sincerely, Bruce Fein, associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan and author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy 300 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20001 Phone: 202-465-8728; 703-963-4968 Email: bruce@feinpoints.comn Bruce Fein's Pioneering Lyceum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You're currently a free subscriber to Bruce Fein's Pioneering Lyceum. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. © 2023 Bruce Fein |