The President vs. Congress
A tense battle
The Imperial Presidency?
• Our big theme for this unit is that the power of the
Presidency has grown in recent years.
• This is what Schlesinger discusses in your Lanahan
reading.
• The power of the Presidency has dominated Congress
in four main areas:
–
–
–
–
War powers
Legislative powers/budget making
Appointments
Foreign Affairs
• We’ll take a look at war powers today.
Presidential Abuses of War Power
• Japanese-American internment during WWII
– Korematsu v. United States
– ex parte Endo
• Nixon administration used illegal FBI bugging and
opened people’s mail without court-ordered
search warrants (violated 4th Amendment)
• Iran-Contra: Reagan authorized selling of arms to
Iran
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• In the Constitution, war powers are clearly divided
– President is Commander In Chief of military
– Congress, and only Congress, declares war
• Gulf of Tonkin Incident during Vietnam
• President Johnson convinces Congress to pass the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President
the power to use conventional military force in SE
Asia without a declaration of war by Congress
• Sets a precedent of sorts
The War Powers Resolution
• During Korea and Vietnam, the US found itself engaged
in many conflicts without formal declarations of war
• Operation Menu in Vietnam
• Congress passes WPR in 1973 which says that the
President can only send forces into war with a formal
declaration of war or in the event of an attack on the
US
• President can commit troops after notifying Congress
48 hours in advance
• Troops must be withdrawn after 60 days (with a 30 day
withdrawal period) without an AUMF or declaration of
war from Congress
The War Powers Resolution
• Nixon vetoes it
• Congress overrides Nixon’s veto
• Every President since Nixon has insisted that the
WPR is unconstitutional
– Cite President’s Commander in Chief powers
– Has been ignored by Reagan (Grenada, Lebanon), Bush
(Panama, Haiti), Clinton (Somalia, Kosovo) and Obama
(Libya)
• The Supreme Court has not taken it up
– Constitutes a “political question”