(Dobbs) "The President shall remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities..."It’s safe to conclude, despite the act of Congress, nothing changes.
Well, this should be interesting. Donald Trump has bashed the judiciary since his political career started. Even more so, once it labeled him a criminal himself. It’s his M.O. When federal judges tell him he’s got to do a certain thing a certain way, often he tells them to stuff it. Literally. He demeans them, he dismisses them, he undermines the public’s confidence in them. Donald Trump does what he wants to do and treats judicial orders with the same contempt he treats the Constitution itself. But as of yesterday, it’s not the judicial branch he will likely defy, it’s the legislative branch. It’s Congress. Three weeks ago, with a handful of Republicans defecting to join the Democrats, the House of Representatives approved a war powers resolution ordering the president to withdraw U.S. forces from the war zone around Iran, unless Congress specifically authorizes their continued presence. Then yesterday, by a vote of 50-48, also with some Republican defectors, the Senate did the same. The joint Senate-House resolution says this: “The President shall remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran (or any part of the government or military thereof)— (1) not later than 30 days after the date on which this joint resolution is enacted; or (2) if Congress directs such removal earlier by concurrent resolution. So now, both houses of Congress have proclaimed, the war must end. This is very much in keeping with what the public wants. A CBS News/YouGov poll just last week showed an overwhelming sentiment to end the war. Especially since for all his bluster, Donald Trump so far has gotten very little of what he said he’d get. As Republican lame duck senator Bill Cassidy, one of the defectors, said to reporters, “Right now Iran is ending up stronger than they started, and we’ve achieved none of the objectives originally laid out.” Which means, after thousands of deaths and tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars spent, it’s time to get out. But will the president treat this congressional declaration the same way he treats judicial decrees? Most likely, yes. Although there is no mechanism for him to veto it, the congressional resolution does not have the force of law and what’s more, there is debate about the power of Congress to stop the president. An ally, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the floor of the Senate and left no doubt: “Whatever happens with this, it’s going to have no effect. The president isn’t going to pay any attention to it.” It shouldn’t have to be said, but Trump’s the only one with an army. Congress doesn’t have one, the courts don’t either. Of course the original War Powers Resolution, passed by Congress more than fifty years ago after President Richard Nixon operated without constructive constraints in the Vietnam War, says a president cannot wage war without the consent of Congress. But Trump blew that off on Day One with Iran. In other words, he never asked. For a while, he tried pushing the fantasy that it wasn’t really a war, just a “military operation,” very much in the spirit of his Russian buddy Vladimir Putin, who made “war” an illegal word in his country after his forces invaded Ukraine. It was just a “special military operation.” Furthermore, Article I of the Constitution itself lays out the designated powers of Congress and when it comes to war, it is clear: “The Congress shall have Power…. To declare War.” Nowhere will you find anything granting that kind of power to a president. The irony is, for Trump’s protestations that it hasn’t been a full-blown war, that’s the word they use for it in the Memorandum of Understanding he so publicly signed last week: “War.” Maybe though, it’s all moot. Trump knows how to count the votes, so he knows that neither Congress nor the public it represents want this war to get worse again. Several times since it started he has talked a big game— “A whole civilization will die tonight,” “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.” Even this past Sunday, during the peace-ish talks in Switzerland, he posted a threat online to the Iranians: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” But he has been an empty suit. Not that it would be better if he would follow through on his deadly threats, but if the history of the last four months is any guide, everyone knows, including Iran, that he probably won’t. Share So it’s safe to conclude, despite the act of Congress, nothing changes. Not the war, and certainly not the disobedience of Donald Trump. |