multiple members meeting claimed that President Joe Biden did not have the authority to attack the Houthis without Congressional approval.
The president must go to Congress and get permission before going to war.
Biden cannot decide to bomb Yemen alone.
And what is the condition of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin? Is he still lying in the hospital?
The Biden administration wants to fund and control the war in Ukraine…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) January 12, 2024
Verdict: Unsubstantiated
The White House insists the president has the authority to attack the Houthis without Congressional approval. A few legal experts agreed with him, but at least one of his legal experts disagreed.
Fact check:
The US has carried out additional airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels and struck a missile base, according to reports. ABC News. According to the newspaper, the United States and Britain attacked Houthi facilities on January 11.
Several lawmakers said Biden needed Congressional approval before attacking the Houthis.Democratic California Congressman Ro Khanna tweeted“Before we launch an attack against the Houthis in Yemen and drag us into another Middle East conflict, the president needs to come to Congress. That's Article 1 of the Constitution. Do we have a Democrat or a Republican in the White House? Regardless, I support that.”
But there is debate over whether the president needed to get parliamentary approval before attacking the Houthis. The president is “obliged to do so under the law.” war powers resolution Notify Congress within 48 hours of the commitment of U.S. forces to hostilities, deployment of combat equipment troops overseas, or any “significant escalation” by the president.[s]”The U.S. military is deployed overseas.” legal fare. The president did so, saying he could attack the Houthis based on his Article 2 powers, Lawfare reported.
Article 2 of the Constitution state“The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called to the actual service of the United States…” Article 1 states: meeting It will have power.”[t]o Declare war, award medals and letters of retribution, and establish regulations regarding capture on land and water. ”
A National Security Council spokesperson told Check Your Facts that the airstrike was “fully compliant with international and domestic law.” (Related: Pope Francis said Jesus was born during a census by King David?)
“Regarding domestic legal grounds in particular, the Justice Department has set long-standing tests for the president's constitutional authority to direct the use of military force. Vital national interests must be at stake, and the action must fall below the threshold of “war.” in a constitutional sense,” the spokesperson said.
“We simply inherited that test and applied it in consultation with interagency counsel, and given the limited nature of the Houthi attacks and coalition attacks that we have endured, here The facts readily meet that test,” the spokesperson added.
U.S. presidents have previously used the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) to carry out attacks in Yemen, according to the Brown University Watson Center on War Costs. project. AUMF was mentioned in “Yemen* (2002-2006, 2012-2021)” and was mentioned in “direct military action against al-Qaeda and her ISIS in the Arabian Peninsula.”
Legal experts are divided on whether the president has the authority to attack the Houthis.
John ShueA lawyer who worked in both Bush administrations told Check Your Fact, “Only Congress has the power to declare war and the power to fund it, but the president has the power to attack the Houthis.'' '' he said in a text message.
“[T]The president has the authority to initiate military action at any time if necessary, as long as he notifies Congress within 48 hours. The Constitution is intentionally designed that way,” Schuh said.
Charles “Currie” Stimsona former assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs and current deputy director of the Heritage Foundation's Edwin Meese III Center, told Check Your Facts in a phone interview that Biden wants Congress to approve him. He said he was able to attack the Houthis without any
“This is not a declaration of war. It falls directly within the Commander-in-Chief's authority under Article 2 to conduct an attack using a limited proportional military attack. [groups] It would endanger U.S. interests by acting in self-defense. So I think the president is absolutely in a very strong position,” Stimson said.
brian finucane“These attacks in Yemen raise important legal questions that the Biden administration has not adequately addressed, but the answer is a simple yes,” a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group told Check Your Facts. It's not a matter of 'or' or 'no'.''
Finucane said these questions center on whether the president has the “constitutional authority to order limited military action in the absence of Congressional authorization” and that “the White House has violated the War Powers Act of 1973.” “The question is whether or not they are doing so.”
“Regarding the first point, there is considerable debate about the scope of the president's constitutional authority to direct the use of military force without prior approval of Congress. At a minimum, there is considerable debate about the extent of the president's constitutional authority to direct the use of military force without prior approval of Congress. It is generally accepted that the president has the authority to use military force.Additionally at issue is the president's ability to use military force after intentionally placing the U.S. military in a dangerous location (such as the Red Sea). “The question is whether they can use a foreseeable attack against US forces as a threat,” Finucane said.
Mr Finucane added:
“Regarding the second point, the War Powers Resolution requires that U.S. forces be withdrawn within 60 days of being committed to a “hostile act.'' The term hostilities is not defined in the War Powers Resolution. The executive branch has generally interpreted “hostile action” to mean a firefight with hostile forces. Under this interpretation, U.S. forces would have been involved in fighting in the Red Sea region at least since October 19, when the aircraft carrier Carney shot down a number of Houthi projectiles apparently targeting Israel. Since then, the U.S. Navy has engaged in periodic hostilities, even before the Jan. 11 and 12 airstrikes. As a result, the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw appears to have expired, and the Biden administration will need Congressional approval if it wants to continue the conflict with the Houthis. ”
Mr. Finucane also wrote an article. war powers resolution For Just Security before the January 11th strike.Congressional Research Service state Section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution states that “The President's authority to commit United States forces into a situation of hostilities or imminent hostilities is limited by: (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific legal authorization, or (3) ) a national emergency caused by an attack on the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”
Marie Baldassarre, Khanna’s communications director, directed “Check Your Fact.” Tweet Sends and tweets from Kanna Justin Amasha lawyer and former member of Congress, spoke about the War Powers Resolution. (Related: Did Donald Trump get bigger tax cuts than Ronald Reagan?)
“Contrary to what you may have heard about the War Powers Resolution, it actually do not have “Authorizes military action for any reason without Congressional approval for 60-90 days, as long as the President notifies Congress within 48 hours,” Amash's tweet read in part.
Khanna later told Check Your Facts that she “disagree.”[d] According to the NSC evaluation…
“I do not agree with the NSC’s assessment that bombing another country with hundreds of missiles is not an act of war. Moreover, although we have withstood attacks from the Houthis, these unauthorized The attack was not defensive, but to retaliate and deter Houthi attacks. If the administration has time to put together a coalition, it has time to come to Congress. This type of strike is covered by the War Powers Act. It requires parliamentary approval based on the law,” Khanna said.
Check Your Fact has reached out to Greene's staff for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
