Newsweek: One-Man Declarations of War Threaten the Nation and the World
Newsweek
One-Man Declarations of War Threaten the Nation and the World | Opinion
Thomas Moukawsher
Published
Jun 24, 2025 at 01:25 PM EDT
Here we are waging war again. But don’t just blame Donald Trump. Blame two Democrats, Harry Truman and Bill Clinton—and save room for the incredible shrinking Congress.
It was Truman who came up with the idea of calling a large-scale military engagement a “police action” not requiring a declaration of war. Yes, before Truman, many presidents used the military without going to Congress, but no president before had committed us on his own initiative to something properly called war.
Another Democrat, Lyndon B. Johnson, rightly sought congressional permission to go to war in Vietnam. Both Bush presidents obtained congressional permission before the Gulf War and the War on Terror against Iraq and Afghanistan.
But in the 1990s, President Bill Clinton committed over the course of several years, some 20,000 troops and massive air strikes in support of NATO interventions against Serbia. Congress never approved his actions. It couldn’t muster the votes to support Clinton or oppose him, so he simply imposed his judgment over the checks and balances set up by the Constitution.
The law requires otherwise. And, it’s not just the Constitution. Federal law requires that the president “in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities.”
The trouble is the language is a pretty limp noodle. It doesn’t say what “consult” means, and it speaks mostly of reports from the president on what’s going on with American forces rather than saying what must be approved and what can be done without approval.
Against this mushy backdrop was the attack on Iran an “act of war” requiring congressional approval? What does common sense tell us?
A surprise air attack on a country you are negotiating with sure seems like an obvious act of war. I don’t recall Emperor Hirohito labelling Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor a “police action.” And if common sense isn’t enough, federal law says an “act of war” includes any “armed conflict” between nations.
So, our attack on Iran was war and Congress should be doing something about it. It can pass a resolution authorizing further attacks. It can pass a resolution forbidding further attacks. But the problem is that for decades now our Congress has been allowing the federal bureaucracy and the imperial presidency to take its place. Congress has become a stomach-turning reality TV show, with members from both parties competing to see who can go viral on the internet by being the rudest and most foul-mouthed.
Wake up! One man should not have the power to decide the only thing that is literally life and death. Without input from anyone but his own subordinates, the president could make one bad call after another. Far worse, there is a real danger that when a single person decides on peace or war the decisive factor might be the decider’s own best interests. Would you be surprised to find Donald Trump thinking: “Will this war be good for me?”
Trump’s own son, Donald Jr., recently pointed to personal motives for war when lambasting President Clinton’s intervention decision about Serbia. He claimed it was not about NATO, but about distracting attention from his affair with Monica Lewinsky. And what about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? War has kept him in power, and staying in power has kept him out of jail.
Are these slanders? Who knows, but we do know that when an entire Congress votes its members are influenced by the competing views of the entire nation, and unlike a lame duck president they must then face the voters. That’s why the Constitution vests the decision for war in the hands of Congress.
So, what’s in it for Trump? The scariest thing of all. Trump has now used American Marines at home against United States citizens. He is making nice with the Army. People are getting used to seeing troops in the streets.
If Trump can use our armed forces without the consent of Congress for anything he wants, look out! Autocracy is here, and, if Trump doesn’t want to leave office, he won’t. After all, like Netanyahu, when Trump leaves office he may be staring jail in the face for bribery. More war, abroad and at home, may be his best way out.
Thomas G. Moukawsher is a former Connecticut complex litigation judge and a former co-chair of the American Bar Association Committee on Employee Benefits. He is the author of the book, The Common Flaw: Needless Complexity in the Courts and 50 Ways to Reduce It.