# Why didn't Congress call Obama out on his violation of the War Powers Act in Libya? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078 "2014-10-21T22:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/1 "2014-10-21T22:01:12Z")
Why didn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/2 "2014-10-21T22:03:00Z")
If only for non-Americans like me who might have no ideas what the War Powers Act is or what its relevance here is, it’d be appreciated if you could supply a little backstory. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/3 "2014-10-21T22:06:24Z")
The part I am referring to: > [@](#): > > Within sixty calendar days after a report is submitted or is required to be submitted pursuant to section 4(a)(1), whichever is earlier, the President shall terminate any use of United States Armed Forces with respect to which such report was submitted (or required to be submitted), unless the Congress (1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day period, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack upon the United States. Such sixty-day period shall be extended for not more than an additional thirty days if the President determines and certifies to the Congress in writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces. Source: [Avalon Project - War Powers Resolution](http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp) ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/4 "2014-10-21T22:26:29Z")
Congress is worthless. They don’t do dick. Seriously,I don’t understand how most of them got reelected. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/5 "2014-10-21T22:35:57Z")
[They did](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/us/politics/16powers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). Nothing happened of course, both because it’s basically a dead letter law and because the Republicans have thrown so many false and trumped up accusations at Obama that even a genuine one would be unlikely to be even noticed in the clutter by most people. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/6 "2014-10-22T02:16:48Z")
Whether or not Obama actually had the power to deploy in Libya is the matter of some debate. The Obama administration thought they had the power and they made the legal argument to that effect. I don’t agree with the argument, but that’s where we are. As for Congress, there simply wasn’t enough of a political coalition to oppose the Libyan action. Frankly, I think most Americans are perfectly okay with the notion of perpetual war, and a sizable percentage actually wants perpetually war. We also have a chattering class of media pundits who seem to love the notion of perpetual war and will ding any politician who opposes it. So, there’s a lot of political risk to opposing any particular US deployment, and not much upside for any politician. If you oppose deployment, you can bet someone is going to be running attack ads in the next election cycle calling you a “terrist lovah” or labeling you someone who hates the troops. Given that, I’m not surprised that Congress wasn’t able to put together an effective coalition to stop the Libyan deployment. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/7 "2014-10-22T03:10:01Z")
What, specifically, did Obama do that violated the WPR? ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/8 "2014-10-22T03:31:33Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > What, specifically, did Obama do that violated the WPR? From [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution) > [@](#): > > this provides that the President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by declaration of war by Congress, “statutory authorization,” or in case of “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” The Libyan deployment doesn’t fall into any of these categories. Obama was relying on something called “Historical Gloss” to justify the Libyan intervention, rather than relying on the WPR. In layman’s terms, Historical Gloss is a power the executive has because previous presidents exercised it, and Congress didn’t object – subject to numerous caveats which I don’t have time to get into here. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/9 "2014-10-22T03:39:05Z")
There are a lot of posts in this thread that appear to be based on the assumption that everybody who reads them is going to understand what the writer is on about. OP, please be so kind as to return to the thread, recap what action(s) President Obama took in Libya, and state clearly why you believe it was (they were) in violation of the War Powers Act. Thanking you in advance, very much. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/10 "2014-10-22T03:47:43Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > There are a lot of posts in this thread that appear to be based on the assumption that everybody who reads them is going to understand what the writer is on about. > > OP, please be so kind as to return to the thread, recap what action(s) President Obama took in Libya, and state clearly why you believe it was (they were) in violation of the War Powers Act. > > Thanking you in advance, very much. Well, the US deployed force in Libya (cruise missiles, sorties, etc.). Under the WPR, deployment of force has to come under one of the WPR categories. Since there was no declaration of war by Congress, statutory authorization by Congress, or an attack on the US (or its possessions), then the deployment of force does not fall under the WPR. And since the Obama administration did not try to use the WPR as the justification for the Libyan intervention, it seems reasonable that they also did not believe that the deployment of force was compliant with the WPR. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/11 "2014-10-22T03:51:46Z")
I saw something about a sixty-day window to either ask for authorization retroactively, or cease the activities. So, ya got some dates you could share with us? ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/12 "2014-10-22T03:55:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I saw something about a sixty-day window to either ask for authorization retroactively, or cease the activities. > > So, ya got some dates you could share with us? No, that’s not the way the WPR works. The initial deployment has to fall under one of the categories, and then the 60 day period kicks in: From [here](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1541): > [@](#): > > The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to > (1) a declaration of war, > (2) specific statutory authorization, or > (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/13 "2014-10-22T04:17:09Z")
Ah, thanks for clearing that up. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/14 "2014-10-22T04:19:11Z")
> [@R3d\_Anonymous](#): > > Why didn’t they? Some members of Congress did voice objections publicly, but not one (that I’m aware of) actually tried to put into motion any kind of lawsuit, legislation, or Congressional action into motion. There are a few reasons for this, and I’ll detail them below: First, in America, the Republican party is typically more hawkish\*; that is, more willing or even eager to think getting involved in a foreign war is justified or wise. So many Republicans didn’t tried to actually prevent Obama from attacking Libya, because their worldview is more accepting of getting involved in foreign wars if America stands to gain by doing so. Democrats are typically more dovish\*, but they’re reluctant to oppose a sitting Democratic President because they worry that doing so would be unpopular with their constituents and would weaken Obama on other issues about which they care more. Second, Libya in general and Qaddafi in particular are pretty damn unpopular in America, and many conservative Americans were perfectly happy to see us act against Qaddafi, who was a pretty bad guy, if maybe not a lot worse than some other third world dictators with whom America is much more closely aligned. Attacking Qaddafi was reasonably popular with bleeding-heart liberals who loved the narrative of poor Muslims overthrowing their oppressive governments to establish liberal democracies because it confirms a belief that most Muslims are basically good people oppressed by governments that support terror and other bad things. So there was actually a significant base of support for supporting Libyan rebels in general. Thirdly, Congresspeople don’t like to stick their necks out without a good potential upside. Most of the country doesn’t pay close enough attention to parse the fine distinction between someone who tries to stop the President from attacking that bad guy Qaddafi because of a law that Congress passed that may or may not be Constitutional, and someone who tries to stop the President from attacking Qaddafi because they like Qaddafi. They worried that if they raise any objection, they’ll be painted as weak on evil bad men like Qaddafi, or even as Qaddafi sympathizers. Congresspeople are basically always campaigning for their next election, and they don’t want to give anyone an opening to attack them. So Congress was in a pickle: they don’t like the President violating the War Powers Resolution (which, as I said, [may not be Constitutional](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution#Questions_regarding_constitutionality)) but most of them think that attacking Qaddafi, supporting the Libyan rebels, or both are worthy objectives. They think that military action is popular with their constituents, and they don’t want to be attacked in their next election with claims that they’re Qaddafi sympathizers. Now, they could have tried to keep the War Powers Resolution from being weakened by allowing yet another sitting President to violate it with impunity by passing an explicit authorization for military force in Libya, but then they’re on record supporting the war, which will be a big liability if the war goes badly. Basically, Congress is a bunch of whiny pushovers who were unwilling to vote either to authorize military force or attempt to enforce the War Powers Resolution because they’re more scared of being on the wrong side than excited to be on the right side. \*This is a big generalization and there are exceptions, but these are the broad trends. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/15 "2014-10-22T04:22:29Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Ah, thanks for clearing that up. Yeah, this can be confusing. Congress has the power to declare war, the President has Commander-in-Chief power. How those two powers relate to each other is a gray area. The WPR lays out specific categories where the President can deploy. But, Presidents routinely deploy in violation of the WPR categories. So, where does that power to deploy come from? Well, Presidents claim that it’s an inherent power that they have as Commander-in-Chief. And they point to “Historical Gloss” as the evidence that they have those powers. Not the way I would like things to work, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/16 "2014-10-22T12:27:13Z")
So if the OP’s question is only about entering the Libya conflict, there’s a very large body of precident of the President ordering military action with no specific statutory authority to do so. Just off the top of my head, see Syria 2014 (arguably/likely), Kosovo 1999, Libya 1986, Panama 1989, Sudan 1998, Somalia 1991, and probably some others. Congress has just never been serious about enforcing that part of the WPR. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/17 "2014-10-22T17:02:43Z")
There’s a reason Congress has never taken legal action to enforce the WPR: its constitutionality is highly suspect. Better to have POTUSes pay lip service to it. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/18 "2014-10-22T17:08:42Z")
I was going to make a long post listing all the reasons this never happened, but then **appleciders** did it already, so I don’t have to. Thanks man, I owe you one. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/19 "2014-10-22T17:21:01Z")
[I wanted to know this too when it happened.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=612901) I also recall McCain and a Democrat drew up Congressional approval making the few objections moot. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078/20 "2014-10-22T19:16:23Z")
**appleciders** : Then why didn’t Congress just authorize Obama’s use of military forces (and funding does not constitute authorization)? Oh never mind, I see why. Yeah man, this Congress is so pathetic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-congress-call-obama-out-on-his-violation-of-the-war-powers-act-in-libya/702078.md?page=2)