Speaker of the Home Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks throughout his weekly press convention on the US Capitol on June 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Tasos Katopodis | Getty Pictures
Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., argued Tuesday that the Battle Powers Act is unconstitutional, and vowed {that a} pending resolution to bar U.S. navy motion in Iran underneath that legislation is not going to cross the Home.
Johnson advised reporters that President Donald Trump‘s resolution to order strikes on Iranian nuclear targets over the weekend was “clearly” inside his powers underneath Article 2 of the U.S. Structure.
Many constitutional students consider that the Nixon-era legislation, which limits the president’s energy to unilaterally wage war, violates Article 2, Johnson mentioned.
“I feel that is proper,” he added.
The Structure provides Congress the ability to declare struggle, which it has not completed with respect to the present battle within the Center East between Iran and Israel. However the legislative department has not formally exercised that energy since World Battle II.
The Structure additionally makes the president the commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces, giving him vital sway over the usage of the navy. Earlier presidents have taken navy motion with out first in search of congressional approval, and some experts say neither Congress nor the courts are prone to do a lot to rein in Trump in response to the current strikes.
The Battle Powers Decision of 1973 requires the president to inform Congress inside 48 hours of deploying the armed forces in any case the place struggle has not formally been declared. Below the legislation, the navy use should finish inside 60 days until Congress declares struggle or grants an extension.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., alongside Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, final week launched a War Powers resolution that might bar the U.S. navy from “unauthorized hostilities” in Iran.
Greater than a dozen Home Democrats have co-sponsored the decision, and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has put ahead a similar measure within the Senate.
The decision is “privileged,” which may enable it to rapidly come to a Home vote regardless of Johnson’s opposition.
However Massie mentioned Monday night that he wouldn’t advance his decision if the Iran-Israel ceasefire holds, Politico reported.
Trump has lashed out at Massie repeatedly over his opposition to the huge tax and spending invoice that the president is pushing Republican lawmakers to rapidly cross. Massie was one in all a small handful of Republicans to vote towards the invoice when it got here to the Home ground final month.
On Tuesday morning, Trump in a Truth Social post referred to as Massie a “Third Fee Congressman” and a “LOSER.”
Johnson advised the press in Tuesday’s remarks that he has requested Massie if his decision was a “moot level” in mild of Trump’s ceasefire announcement.
Massie had replied, “yeah, it most likely is,” in keeping with Johnson.
So “we could not must act” on the decision, the speaker mentioned. “I hope we do not, as a result of I feel it could be a horrible look, and it’ll not cross the Home as a result of it is inappropriate and it isn’t a correct use of the legislation anyway.”