Lawmakers are pushing back after President Trump called the War Powers Act unconstitutional in response to U.S. military action in Venezuela.
Published January 11, 2026
President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to use U.S. troops to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has led some lawmakers to criticize the president for issuing the order without Congressional authorization.
In a Jan. 8 post on Truth Social, President Trump said he had the authority to do so and questioned the constitutionality of the relevant law.
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“As every President and the Department of Justice have determined before me, the War Powers Act is unconstitutional and in complete violation of Article II of the Constitution,” Trump wrote.
But President Trump went too far, calling the 1973 War Powers Resolution unconstitutional. Courts have repeatedly refused to rule on its constitutionality.
Within days of the Venezuela operation, the U.S. Senate introduced a resolution restricting further military operations in the Latin American country without support from Congress, with five Republicans joining Democrats in supporting it. However, the bill has little chance of becoming law, and if it were to pass in the Republican-controlled House, it would require Trump’s signature, but it is unclear.
For decades, presidents and Congress have fought over who has the institutional authority to declare war.
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the right to declare war. The last time Congress did that was at the start of World War II.
Since then, presidents have typically used their constitutional authority as commander-in-chief to initiate military action without a formal declaration of war.
In August 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Congress to support efforts to expand America’s role in Vietnam. He gained approval by enacting the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which passed easily through both houses of Congress.
As public sentiment turned against the Vietnam War, members of Congress grew dissatisfied with the secondary role of sending American troops overseas. So in 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, which overrode President Richard Nixon’s veto.
The resolution requires the president to report to Congress within 48 hours of introducing troops into hostilities and to cease the use of U.S. forces within 60 days unless Congress approves. If approval is not obtained and the president deems the situation to be an emergency, business suspension will be granted for an additional 30 days.
Presidents have often, but not always, followed the law’s requirements, framing any petitions to Congress as voluntary efforts to secure “support” rather than “authorization” for military action. This may take the form of a “authorization to use military force” law, the modern equivalent of a declaration of war.
President Trump is also correct that presidents of both parties are asserting power and seeking to limit the interference of lawmakers, including the courts. However, these arguments were not supported by court decisions.
From 1973 to 2012, Congress’ nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found eight judicial decisions involving the War Powers Resolution, but “in each case” the decisions refused to issue a binding opinion and always found reasons to avoid taking sides, such as a lack of standing to litigate.
