Tension is rising between Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress after the raid ordered by the American president on Thursday against the Houthi rebels in Yemen which was followed by at least two others. Some deputies of his party, but also some Republicans, have accused the commander in chief of having violated the Constitution without first asking for authorization from Capitol Hill, while Biden defends his choice and announces that he has sent a warning to Iran about the risk of escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
"Anyone who believes that I had to ask permission from Congress before ordering the attack is wrong," the president responded dryly to the hail of criticism from the Democrats. For Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington and president of the Progressive Caucus, it was "an unacceptable violation of Article 1" of the Charter , while Wisconsin Democrat Mark Pocan appealed to Biden to "involve Congress first to proceed with new raids". “The United States cannot risk becoming entangled in another decades-long conflict without authorization from Capitol Hill.”
The question of whether or not the commander in chief needs the green light from deputies and senators is long and complex. On the one hand, Article 1 of the Constitution establishes that it is Congress that authorizes war, and not the president, one of the "checks and balances" that are a hallmark of the American political system. On the other hand, Article 2 establishes that the occupant of the White House is the head of the armed forces and can decide military operations for defensive purposes without any authorization . The point is therefore whether the attacks against the rebels supported by Iran were a "response" to theirs in the Red Sea, in Iraq and Syria - as Biden and those who defend him claim - or a real aggression by the US.
A president's use of force is also regulated by the War Powers Resolution, passed by Congress in 1973 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. It requires that military actions launched without a declaration of war or specific legal authority be stopped within 60 days and that the president must report to deputies and senators within 48 hours on the causes and circumstances of the raid.
According to analysts, the dispute between the president and Capitol Hill will be conditioned by what happens on the ground. If Biden keeps Congress informed of military operations from now on and succeeds in avoiding the conflict from spreading, the repercussions on him and on US policy will be milder.
(Unioneonline/D)