In January of 1955, the United States Senate approved a resolution that essentially gave President Dwight D. Eisenhower carte blanche to use American military forces to protect Formosa (Taiwan) against an armed attack. Only three Senators voted against the resolution – Democrat Herbert Lehman of New York, Republican William Langer of North Dakota, and Wayne Morse of Oregon, who had left the Republican Party in 1952 to become an independent.
In 1957, Eisenhower asked for authority to use military force to “help nations requesting assistance against armed aggression from any country controlled by international communism.” Eisenhower’s “Middle East Resolution” passed the Senate 72 to 19. Morse, now a Democrat, was one of the “no” votes. The following year, the president used his “Eisenhower Doctrine” to send thousands of U.S. marines to intervene in a civil conflict in Lebanon.
In August of 1964, the United States Senate adopted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by a vote of 88 to 2. Several senators expressed concerns but ultimately followed the direction of Senator William Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and voted for the resolution. Only Morse and Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska voted against the resolution which later, it was determined, was based on a naval “incident” in Vietnam that never happened. A former law school dean, Morse opined that the resolution gave the executive branch power not contained in the Constitution. President Lyndon Johnson used the Tonkin Gulf Resolution to order tens of thousands of American troops to Vietnam and mired the U.S. in the Vietnam War for more than a decade.
In January of 1991, the Senate voted, 52 to 47, to approve S.J. Res. 2, a bipartisan resolution that authorized the use of U.S. armed forces pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 that condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Following the vote, Operation Desert Storm launched precision bombing attacks in the first Gulf War and made General Norman Schwarzkopf a household name.
Fast forward to the present. Donald Trump’s decision to order the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities was a surprise, at least for the timing since, just the day before, Trump said he would make his decision in the next two weeks. The military mission appeared to be well-executed by the bomber pilots, jet fighters, refueling planes, even submarines who provided cover, but Congress was not in the loop. No resolution was proposed, no committee hearings, no floor debate. Security briefings about Iran’s nuclear potential were scheduled but cancelled by the government agencies.
The U.S. Constitution bestows explicit power on the legislative branch to declare war, not the executive branch. The argument seems to center on the definition of war. The American Heritage Dictionary definition is “a state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried between nations, states, or parties.” Does offensive bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites meet the definition? Sending Marines to Lebanon? Troops to Grenada? Since the end of World War II, Democratic and Republican Presidents alike have usurped Congress’ prerogative, sometimes conferring with legislators; often not. As much as the Trump Administration ballyhoos that bombing Iran’s nuclear sites protects Israel, our longtime Middle East ally, that action also emboldens America’s enemies and puts our nation at risk of retaliation and reprisals. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine’s War Powers Resolution reinforces that constitutional power is reserved to Congress to declare war. The resolution is “privileged,” meaning that the Senate must take a vote on it. When introducing his resolution, Kaine insisted that “the U.S. should not be at war without a vote of Congress.” Regardless of the eventual vote, I think Wayne Morse would be proud of Kaine’s courageous action. I know I am.
