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Sarah Burns

Trump sidelined Congress’ authority over war on Iran – and lawmakers allowed it, extending a 75-year trend

Trump sidelined Congress’ authority over war on Iran – and lawmakers allowed it, extending a 75-year trend

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives set April 21, 2026, as the date to hear from and question top Pentagon officials Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, head of U.S. Africa Command, about the war in Iran.
Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology, Institute for Humane Studies, Robert Haswell, Carleton University
Congress once fought to limit a president’s war powers − more than 50 years later, its successors are less willing to assert their authority

Congress once fought to limit a president’s war powers − more than 50 years later, its successors are less willing to assert their authority

Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president. But most modern presidents and their legal counsel have asserted that Article 2 of the Constitution allows the president to use the military in certain situations without prior congressional approval – and have acted
Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology, Institute for Humane Studies