News

Trump calls the War Powers Act unconstitutional. No court has agreed.

Poynter · Louis Jacobson · last updated

After President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to use the U.S. military to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, some lawmakers criticized Trump for ordering it without any authorization from Congress.

Trump, in a Jan. 8 Truth Social post, said he has the power to do that, and questioned the constitutionality of a related law.

“The War Powers Act is Unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me,” Trump wrote.

But Trump went too far by calling the 1973 War Powers Resolution unconstitutional. Courts have repeatedly declined to rule on its constitutionality.

View full article

here today, more tomorrow

We’re launching briefing.center with a focus on the press and media.

And we’re adding Citizen Cartwright, a daily quick-read news summary by veteran Washington journalist Linda Cartwright. (Sign-up for a dedicated morning email is available at Citizencartwright.com.)

We’re readying our first policy briefing.center, on energy and climate. We’d love to hear from you in what our other policy priorities should be.

You can use briefing.center as the center of your information management, or just one of your tools. We’re happy to discuss your connectivity needs.

Sign up