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Most wars take a long time to reach a state of chaos, but Donald Trump’s Iran war is premature. Just 60 days have passed since the president formally notified Congress of military action there, on March 2. (The first airstrikes had begun two days earlier.)
That makes today the deadline, under the War Powers Resolution (WPR), for the president to end the war, Congress to approve it, or Trump to request a 30-day extension to withdraw. Although the deadline is written into law, it seems unlikely there is none of these things will happen. Given the chance to control an unpopular, unsuccessful, and possibly illegal war, Congress can do nothing—the latest sign of how ineffective the body has become.
The administration and the leaders of the Republican party have decided to pretend that the war is over, freeing themselves from any need to take action. In a letter to Congress, available for PoliticsThe White House claims that the war has “ceased” because of the current ceasefire. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has adopted a similar line. “We are not at war,” he told NBC News yesterday “I don’t think we have ongoing military attacks, shootings, or anything like that. Right now, we’re trying to bring peace.”
This is nonsense. Trump’s interpretation would allow the president to create a cease-fire every two weeks to avoid congressional involvement. The war is by no means over: Thousands of personnel have been deployed, thousands of ships have been seized in the Persian Gulf, and talks with Iran have not only stalled—they have stalled. it is difficult to seem to exist. The president has decided to threaten Iran with a meme showing himself with a gun in front of explosions and quotes. No More Mr. Nice Guy!
The very existence of the war is a sign of Congress’s weakness. The Constitution gives the power to declare war to the legislative branch, and Trump did not want to nor receive it in this case. Wanting to give presidents the freedom to act quickly in emergencies, but also wanting to maintain some control, Congress passed the WPR in 1973. Throughout the two months of the Iran war, Democrats forced six votes to try to push through the resolution—which, as my colleague Tom Nichols has written, it will be a difficult choice-but Republicans defeated all six.
The 60-day mark theoretically compels action, but the law is not self-enforcing: It assumes Congress will act, and as is clear by now, this is not a safe bet. Yesterday, the White House was finally able to find a way to end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that had begun on Valentine’s Day, making it the longest in history. (The Senate passed a bill to reopen the department at the end of March, but the House left town instead of passing.)
Ahead of the WPR deadline, some Republican senators said they were ready for action. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski hosts consent. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has already joined the Democrats in the early polls, and yesterday Susan Collins of Maine did as well. But it’s a long way from these signs to either chamber actually passing approval or forcing Trump to withdraw, especially when Congress is drawn into other ranks. self-inflicted conflicts.
Ignoring the WPR isn’t just Trump’s problem. During the US bombing of Libya in 2011, lawmakers from both parties criticized President Obama for acting without authorization. The Obama administration claimed that, although the United States had spent more than $1 billion, the attack did not fall under the WPR. because “US operations do not involve sustained combat or exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve US ground troops.” (The Trump administration has borrowed that line to justify its possible illegality strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, basically saying that it doesn’t need permission because even though the US military is involved, no one is shooting.)
With a fugitive president and a dysfunctional Congress, some Democrats are considering suing the Trump administration for violating the WPR. Time reported this week. Liberal law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky it also suggests a court as a place to review the war. Democrats don’t have many other levers to pull, but the outlook for such a case is grim. As Chemerinsky scathingly admits, courts have seen such cases in recent decades as political questions outside their purview. Whether the Democrats would have the standing to sue is also a question; some of them tried to impeach Trump for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution during his first term, but the judges rejected the case.
Even if legal obstacles can be overcome, it is humiliating for Congress, a theoretically equivalent branch of government, to be forced to turn to the courts, an entirely different branch, to do a job it is unable or unwilling to do. It’s no wonder public opinion about Congress has matched the worst in a Gallup poll, by far 86% disapproval in a survey released last week. Feedback inside the body is, if possible, even lower. “This is what happens when you have leadership that can’t organize a one-car parade,” the top House Republican said he told it known.
How Congress decides to deal with Iran is important, given that the war so far has been a strategic, moral and legal failure. But the underlying questions of legislative authority are deeper than the present immediate dispute. Reforming American politics and turning back the tide of authoritarianism will require a strong and effective legislative branch that can stand up to the White House. Right now, Congress doesn’t seem to be working.
Related:
Here are three new stories from Atlantic:
Today’s news
- Spirit Airlines is preparing to shut down after a proposed $500 million government bailout fell apart-officials and bondholders could not agree on a bailout plan as the carrier’s cash is running low.
- US officials say Iran is using the ceasefire to recover missiles and other weapons hidden underground or buried under the rubble of US and Israeli attacks as part of efforts to rebuild its military capabilities.
- The The Federal Emergency Management Agency is bringing some workers back to work who were fired under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as the agency moves to stabilize the workforce ahead of hurricane season and the World Cup.
Dispatches
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Evening Read
The Secret To Success Is ‘Monotasking’
By David Epstein
If Isabel Allende’s office needs to be painted, it must be done by January 8 or be suspended. Every year, that’s the day he starts writing.
The example goes back to January 8, 1981, when Allende began his first novel, House of Ghosts. Since then, he has cleared his calendar and started a new book on that date, thinking he had finished the previous one. That ritual has helped her publish a book about every 18 months for 43 years. Today, at the age of 83, Allende is the most translated female Spanish-language writer in the world, by far …
Allende’s January 8 ritual is a form of what social scientists call a “self-serving device”: a self-imposed restriction of freedom in the service of a greater goal.
More From Atlantic
Cultural Breakdown
Read on. A new book on attachment theory suggests a the psychiatrist’s case for choosing friends more carefullyFaith Hill writes.
Investigate. Kids deserve cute purses as party favors, Mandy Len Catron argued in January. They are wasteful and impersonal—and tend to be denying children the joy of giving by thinking.
Rafaela Jinich contributed to this journal.
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