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War Powers Law Does Not Apply to Trump's Boat Strikes, Administration Says - NYT
NYT - Gift LinkThe Justice Department told Congress this week that President Trump could lawfully continue his lethal military strikes on people suspected of smuggling drugs at sea, notwithstanding a time limit for congressionally unauthorized deployments of armed forces into “hostilities.”
In a briefing, the official who leads the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, T. Elliot Gaiser, said the administration did not think the operation rose to the kind of “hostilities” covered by the 60-day limit, a key part of a 1973 law called the War Powers Resolution, according to several people familiar with the matter.
In a statement provided by the White House, an unnamed senior administration official said that American service members were not in danger because the boats suspected of smuggling drugs were mostly being struck by drones far from naval ships carrying U.S. forces.
“The operation comprises precise strikes conducted largely by unmanned aerial vehicles launched from naval vessels in international waters at distances too far away for the crews of the targeted vessels to endanger American personnel,” the official said.
The U.S. military has killed about 65 people across 15 airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific so far, and the administration has told Congress that Mr. Trump “determined” that the operation counts as a formal armed conflict. On Saturday, the military killed three more men on a boat in the Caribbean, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on social media.
In a briefing, the official who leads the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, T. Elliot Gaiser, said the administration did not think the operation rose to the kind of “hostilities” covered by the 60-day limit, a key part of a 1973 law called the War Powers Resolution, according to several people familiar with the matter.
In a statement provided by the White House, an unnamed senior administration official said that American service members were not in danger because the boats suspected of smuggling drugs were mostly being struck by drones far from naval ships carrying U.S. forces.
“The operation comprises precise strikes conducted largely by unmanned aerial vehicles launched from naval vessels in international waters at distances too far away for the crews of the targeted vessels to endanger American personnel,” the official said.
The U.S. military has killed about 65 people across 15 airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific so far, and the administration has told Congress that Mr. Trump “determined” that the operation counts as a formal armed conflict. On Saturday, the military killed three more men on a boat in the Caribbean, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on social media.