Bipartisan bill aims to assert Congress's power over arms sales, emergencies and military operations

[Donkees]

By Karoun Demirjian
July 20, 2021

Excerpt:

A bipartisan group of senators is unveiling legislation Tuesday to give Congress a more active role in approving arms sales, authorizing the use of military force and declaring national emergencies, in an across-the-board effort to claw back national security power from the executive branch.

The bill aims, for the first time, to define what type of “hostilities” require a president to seek congressional approval before committing military resources; establish expiration dates for national emergencies and military authorizations; and automatically curtail funding for any operation a president continues without explicit congressional support.

The trio behind the measure, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have been longtime proponents of giving Congress a more proactive role in such matters. In recent years, they joined forces to invoke Congress’s war powers and bring an end to U.S. participation in Yemen’s civil war — an effort that secured majority support, but not enough to overcome then-President Donald Trump’s veto.

The measure seeks to replace the War Powers Act of 1973 with a series of better-defined, and arguably more stringent directives to the current and future administrations about when to approach Congress for permission to conduct military operations. It would define “hostilities” as any operation requiring the use of force, remotely or directly — superseding the unofficial custom of administrations interpreting the law as applying only when there are troops on the ground. It also would shorten the time that presidents have to engage in those hostilities from 60 to 20 daysand automatically terminate funding for an operation if a president fails to secure congressional support for the venture by that deadline.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/senate-war-powers-bill/2021/07/19/7515af7c-e8e1-11eb-8950-d73b3e93ff7f_story.html

[Donkees]

1. ''Congress should reform a system that gives us endless wars, unlimited arms sales, ...

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[Wounded Bear]

2. I approve this message...nt

[Donkees]

3. ''We are LIVE introducing major legislation to reassert that constitutional power.''

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[Amishman]

4. Good, the executive branch has too much power

Especially once you consider their indirect authority via control over government agencies.