Shutterstock
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that the House of Representatives will vote this week on a War Powers Resolution in order to further limit President Donald Trump’s ability to take military actions, despite the White House saying that the strike killing a top Iranian general was in compliance with the War Powers Act of 1973.
The White House notified Congress through a classified War Powers notification that it intended to launch an attack, which killed Iranian military General Qassem Soleimani.
The goal of the 1973 resolution was for the United States to avoid being drawn into additional lengthy conflicts, such as it had in the Vietnam War.
However, its effectiveness has been repeatedly questioned throughout history. Several US presidents have been accused of failing to comply with its regulations.
House Speaker Pelosi criticized the White House for its notification to Congress that it intended a military strike against an Iranian general, saying the document “raises more questions than it answers.”
“This document prompts serious and urgent questions about the timing, manner, and justification of the Administration’s decision to engage in hostilities against Iran,” Speaker Pelosi said in a statement.
“The highly unusual decision to classify this document in its entirety compounds our many concerns, and suggests that the Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security.”
House Speaker Pelosi plans on introducing a war Powers resolution that will extend beyond what has already been laid out in the 1973 War Powers Act.
In a letter on January 5, 2020, Speaker Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives will “introduce and vote on a War Powers Resolution to limit” President Donald Trump’s “military actions regarding Iran” this week.
The War Powers Act (also known as The War Powers Resolution or The War Powers Resolution of 1973, named after the year it was enacted) is a federal law intended to check the president’s power against committing the United States to armed conflict without the consent of Congress.
The resolution was passed in 1973 by two-thirds of each of the House and Senate, overriding the veto by then-President Richard M. Nixon.
The resolution requires that the president notified Congress within 48 hours of committing Armed Forces into military action.
The resolution further forbids US Armed Forces from remaining for more than 60 days, or with a further 30-day withdrawal, without congressional authorization for use of military force (AUMF) or a declaration of war by the United States.
The resolution states that only by a declaration of war by Congress, or “statutory authorization,” or in the case of a “national emergency created by an attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces,” can the president send US Armed Forces into action abroad.
