The President vs. CongressA 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• Troops must be withdrawn after 60 days (with a 30 day withdrawal period) without an AUMF or declaration of war from Congress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”