Overview of the War Powers Resolution

CourtDepartment of Justice Office of Legal Counsel
DecidedOctober 30, 1984
StatusPublished

This text of Overview of the War Powers Resolution (Overview of the War Powers Resolution) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Overview of the War Powers Resolution, (olc 1984).

Opinion

Overview of the War Powers Resolution

Summary of previous Office o f Legal Counsel advice concerning the W ar Powers Resolution for the purpose o f providing guidance in future analyses of W ar Powers Resolution problems.

October 30, 1984

M em orandum O p in io n for th e Attorney G eneral

On a number of occasions during this Administration, this Office has pro­ vided both written and oral legal advice to you, the Deputy Attorney General, the Counsel to the President and the National Security Council regarding the War Powers Resolution (WPR). This advice has been rendered in connection with the deployment of United States Armed Forces in Lebanon, the provision of military assistance and intelligence to our allies in Central America, the deployment of sophisticated radar aircraft in Chad and in the Sinai, responses to an armed attack on our armed forces in the Gulf of Siddra, the deployment of troops to Grenada, and in various other circumstances. We have summarized the highlights of that advice and outlined certain historical information in this memorandum in order to provide guidance to you and to our respective succes­ sors in future analyses of War Powers Resolution problems.

I. The War Powers Resolution: Summary of Provisions

A. Stated Constitutional Basis

The War Powers Resolution became effective on November 7, 1973 after Congress overrode President Nixon’s veto of the Resolution.1 It is codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 1541-1548. Section 1 of the WPR sets out the name of the enactment; § 2 of the WPR states its purpose and the constitutional authorities upon which it is predicated. Its purpose is said “to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution” to

1 President Nixon vetoed the W ar Pow ers R esolution on O ctober 24, 1973. H is veto m essage declared that the autom atic 60 day term ination provision, § 5(b), and legislative veto provision, § 5(c), w ere unconstitu­ tional. The veto w as overridden on N ovem ber 7 by a four vote margin in the House and by a substantial m argin in the Senate. S enator Javits, one o f the p nncipal sponsors o f the WPR, had hoped to avoid a veto. He felt that a W PR which was enacted w ith the approval o f the President would constitute a “com pact" between Congress and the President. Holt, The W ar Powers Resolution: The Role o f Congress in U.S. A rm ed Intervention 1-2 (1978).

271 insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent in­ volvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations. Id. Section 2(b) invokes the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution. Section 2(c) declares that the President’s constitutional powers as Commander- in-Chief with respect to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities or situations in which hostilities are clearly indicated “are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

B. Consultation

Section 3 of the WPR calls for consultation “with Congress” “in every possible instance .. . before introducing United States Armed Forces” into hostile situations and “regularly” thereafter until hostilities cease or those forces have been removed.

C. Reporting under the WPR

Section 4(a) of the WPR calls for a report to be filed with Congress within 48 hours in any case in which troops are introduced

(1) into hostilities or into situations where imminent involve­ ment in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances; (2) into the territory, air space or waters of a foreign nation, while equipped for com bat. . . ; or (3) in numbers which substantially enlarge United States Armed Forces equipped for combat already located in a foreign nation. . . . Section 4(a) provides that the report must set forth: (A) the circumstances necessitating the introduction o f United States Armed Forces; (B) the constitu­ tional and legislative authority under which the forces have been introduced; and (C) the estimated scope and duration of the deployment. Section 4(c) requires the President to report to Congress no less often than every six months, as long as the forces remain in the situation giving rise to the report. Under § 5(a), the report required by § 4(a)(1) (deployment into hostilities or situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated) must be transmitted to the Speaker o f the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate and to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Com­ mittee on Foreign Relations. 272 D. Removal o f Troops

Section 5(b) provides that “[w]ithin sixty calendar days after a report is submitted or is required to be submitted pursuant to” § 4(a)(1), the President must terminate the use of United States Armed Forces unless Congress has declared war, enacted a specific authorization for the use of troops, or extended the 60 day period, or unless the President is unable to do so because of an armed attack on the United States. The President may extend the 60-day period by 30 days if “unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety o f ’ the forces “requires the continued use of such armed forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces.” Section 5(c) contains an unconstitutional legislative veto device purporting to authorize Congress, acting by a concurrent resolution not subject to the President’s veto, to require removal of troops in any situation involving actual hostilities. This Administration testified before Congress that this provision was implicitly invalidated by the Court’s decision in INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983).2 Congress has not disputed that conclusion. Indeed, the counsel to the House of Representatives came to virtually the same conclusion.3

E. Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 6 of the WPR sets out expedited procedures for consideration by both Houses of joint resolutions extending the time of the deployment of troops under § 5(b). Section 7 does the same for the unconstitutional concurrent resolution procedure under § 5(c). Section 8 of the WPR contains certain other miscellaneous provisions. One expressly provides that authority to introduce United States Armed Forces into § 4(a)(1) situations “shall not be inferred” from any provision of law, including any appropriations provision, “unless such provision specifically authorizes the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities .. . and states that it is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning o f ’ the WPR. This provision, along with a similar provision negating any similar inferences from any treaty, are intended to preclude Executive Branch reliance for deployments of United States Armed Forces on any ambiguous statutes (including appropriations laws) or treaties.4 Thus, under § 8 the President’s authority to deploy armed forces into hostilities must be grounded in his inherent constitutional powers unless Congress has specifically provided by statute for such deployment. Subsection § 8(c) states that under the WPR the term “‘introduction of United States Armed Forces’” includes the “assignment of members of such 2 H earings on the U.S.

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