Describe the Constitutional tensions between the president and Congress in making war. How have those tensions been resolved, changed, or not addressed?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Students should discuss the president’s ability, as commander in chief, to commit troops to a conflict in a rapid-response manner without the immediate approval of congress. However, Congress has the sole authority to declare war (which has not been formally done since World War II). Today, the power lies more with the president than with Congress. However, Congress has the power of the purse, and in 1973, the War Powers Resolution placed limits on the president’s ability to involve the military in a foreign conflict without seeking the advice and consent of Congress. But the presidential power to commit troops to war has increased throughout the past century, as the immediacy of such technologies as nuclear weapons requires a swift and decisive action be made by the president in the role of commander in chief. While the War Powers Resolution attempted to control the power of the president in committing troops to foreign conflict zones, most presidents have been able to find ways around the resolution and around the war-making powers of Congress, so the continued expansion of presidential power in times of war is still rather unchecked by Congress.