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Political idiot here, is that like threatening your parents that you'll hold your breath until you get your way or are there actual checks and balances at play?
by jasonkostempski 10y ago
Political idiot here, is that like threatening your parents that you'll hold your breath until you get your way or are there actual checks and balances at play?
- AnimalMuppet 10y agoYes and no. Only Congress has the power to declare war. That's the actual check and balance. But if I understand correctly, in a situation like this[1], the President has authority to authorize military force. He just can't continue to use it for more than 90 days (in the same situation) without congressional approval[2]. But no, Republicans in Congress are not going to magically force Trump to un-fire the missiles. Nor are they going to impeach him over this. (If he violates the 90 day limit, it is somewhat more likely that there will be some kind of action, but still far from certain.) [1] For some value of "like this" - a situation where, in the President's judgment, military action is urgently needed, where it can't wait for days or weeks while Congress debates and goes through all the procedural motions. [2] The 90 day limit is there because the Vietnam War came out of a situation like this - a presidentially-authorized use of force that never was a declared war, that turned into nearly a decade of US involvement and 55,000 US dead.
- flukus 10y agoThe trick is to make it a military action, not a war. The US hasn't been at war sine WW2.