On Friday, the Obama administration will reach the 60-day
limit on how long it can wage war in Libya without congressional authorization,
as spelled out in the War Powers Resolution of 1973. But does the
administration, or for that matter Congress, even care?
Section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. §
1544(b)) mandates that:
Within sixty calendar days after a
report is submitted or is required to be submitted pursuant to section 4(a)(1),
whichever is earlier, the President
shall terminate any use of United States Armed Forces with respect to which
such report was submitted (or required to be submitted), unless the Congress
(1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of
United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day period, or
(3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack upon the United
States. Such sixty day period shall be extended for not more than an additional
thirty days if the President determines and certifies to the Congress in
writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United
States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed forces in the
course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces.
President Barack Obama
notified Congress of his intention to commit U.S. forces to war in Libya on
March 21, so the 60-day deadline is May 20. But there's no chance the U.S.
involvement in the Libyan war will end by then and there's no chance Congress
will move to formally express its view on the war before the deadline.
Sen. Rand Paul
(R-KY) circulated
a letter on Wednesday, obtained by The
Cable, demanding that Obama explain exactly what he plans to do.
"As recently as last week your Administration indicated use
of the United States Armed Forces will continue indefinitely. Therefore, we are
writing to ask whether you intend to comply with the requirements of the War
Powers Resolution. We await your response," Paul wrote.
The letter was also signed by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom
Coburn (R-OK), Jim DeMint (R-SC),
Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Mike Lee (R-UT).
The Cable asked
NSC spokesman Tommy Vietor if the
president intended to comply with the War Powers Act or even believed it to be
constitutional, but Vietor declined to comment.
We're told by two congressional sources that the White House
is considering declaring that U.S. military involvement in Libya has paused,
only for it to resume in a few days, thereby resetting the 60-day clock. But
that questionable legal tactic, for now, is not being confirmed by anybody in
the administration.
Regardless, as of Friday, any one senator can invoke the War Powers Resolution, which would
force the Senate to debate the issue. Several Senate offices are scrambling now
to figure out exactly how the law would be invoked, but the most likely
scenario would be for one senator to raise a budget point of order, which would
seek to cut off all funding for war operations in Libya immediately, thus
kicking off the debate.
The White House does seem nervous about the deadline. The
administration pulled Gen. James
Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a
scheduled Thursday hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was
then
cancelled.
Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) had been
working on a resolution expressing support for the administration's military
intervention in Libya, but the final language was
never worked out and the momentum for doing anything in the Senate with
regard to Libya petered out as the
focus turned to the budget battle.
Kerry told reporters on Tuesday that he was open to debating
and passing a resolution in the Senate on Libya, but said he didn't see any enthusiasm
from leadership or his caucus to get something done.
Sen. Carl Levin
(D-MI) said on Tuesday that a Senate resolution approving the Libya war was more trouble than it was worth
because though most senators approved of the Libya war, they couldn't agree on
the details of how a resolution should be worded.
Still, there are several GOP senators who would like to use
the deadline to press the administration for more clarity on the mission:
goals, benchmarks, costs, and lots of other details. These senators include Sen.
Richard Lugar (R-IN) who has
been demanding such answers to no avail.
But GOP senators are in something of a bind on the issue, as
several of them are on the record as arguing that the War Powers Resolution,
which has never been challenged in court, is unconstitutional.
"I've never recognized the constitutionality of the War
Powers Act, nor has any president, Republican or Democrat," exclaimed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), speaking to
reporters on Tuesday.
Levin predicted that if the issue came to a head, the White
House would declare the law invalid.
"If we operated under the War Powers Act, [the White House
is] going to say the War Powers Act is not constitutional and the whole thing
ends in court," Levin said.
He added that there's an easier and more effective way for
senators to stop the war -- if that's what they want to do. They can just hold
up the money.
"You don't have to go through the complexities of the War Powers
Act.... It's called the power of the purse."
Read More
(2)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE