The Senate’s failed bid to curb President Donald Trump’s authority to launch military action in Venezuela showed how difficult it has become for Congress to assert its constitutional role on war powers. But despite the apparent futility of the effort, Democrats are preparing a new round of resolutions aimed at other countries.
“There remains an ongoing Article 1 crisis,” said Brian Finucane, a former State Department legal adviser now at the International Crisis Group, referring to the section of the Constitution that lays out the government’s checks and balances. “A whole majority of members of Congress, by and large, are not willing to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.”
Despite this, Democrats say more war powers resolutions are on the way.