Last Friday, the calendar hit 60 days since the White House notified Congress of military action against Libya under the War Powers Act, which requires Congress to authorize U.S. military action. It was another reminder that law has few teeth to force a President's hand.
The White House finally sent a letter to Congressional leaders about the mission, which never once mentioned the "War Powers" angle, but did urge a vote on a resolution supporting the NATO/UN mission.
"Congressional action in support of the mission would underline the U.S. commitment to this remarkable international effort," wrote the President.
"It has always been my view that it is better to take military action, even in limited actions such as this, with Congressional engagement, consultation, and support," President Obama added.
Technically - because Congress did not act to authorize that military action - the President is required to withdraw U.S. forces over the next thirty days.
But don't hold your breath - there have been other Presidents who have ignored the War Powers law as well.
In 1982, President Reagan sent troops to Lebanon and - just like President Obama - notified Congress about this under the auspices of the War Powers Act.
The next year, Congress finally gave the okay to keep the troops there for 18 months.
Back in 1999, President Clinton ordered air strikes against Yugoslavia without any War Powers authorization from the Congress.
Weeks later, over twenty members of Congress went to court, arguing that it violated the War Powers law.
Back then, the Republican House actually defeated legislation to authorize the air strikes, as it died on a 213-213 tie vote.
But the court threw out the lawsuit, reminding a lot of people in Washington, D.C. that the War Powers angle doesn't have much in the way of teeth.
And that's where we are now, as illustrated by this exchange in Friday's White House Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney:
Q Can I follow up on Chuck’s question about the War Powers Act? Because I don’t understand how the U.S. is behaving in a way that’s consistent with the War Powers Act.
MR. CARNEY: I spoke at length about this when you were out of the room. The President -- the President --
Q I just read the transcript -- you didn’t say anything. (Laughter.) Sixty days, expires today -- from congressional authorization, notification, 60 days expires today. So how is this consistent?
MR. CARNEY: The President believes that he has acted and has acted consistent with the War Powers Resolution. We can have a debate, which could spend the afternoon, and there’s volumes and volumes written about the application and issues involving the War Powers Resolution. I’m not going to do that from here. The President looks forward to, would welcome support from Congress on this issue, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.
And for now, there seem to be few voices in Congress saying anything about it either.
