INTERNACIONAL
Trump ‘doesn’t need permission’ from Congress to strike Iran, expert says
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While lawmakers argue over their position in the command chain as President Donald Trump mulls a possible strike on Iran, one expert believes that the president is within his constitutional authority to move ahead with a bunker-busting bomb.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are embroiled in debate over where they are in the pecking order. Some argue they should have the sole authority to authorize a strike, let alone declare war, while others believe that is within Trump’s purview if he wanted to join Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran.
‘INSTINCTS FOR RESTRAINT’: SENATE DIVIDED OVER WHO GETS TO DECLARE WAR
One expert believes that the president is within his constitutional authority to move ahead with a bunker-busting bombing of Iran. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The predominant argument on the Hill is that the entire point of supporting Israel is to prevent the Islamic Republic from creating or acquiring a nuclear weapon.
However, a legal scholar who helped to craft the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which authorized the usage of the U.S. armed forces to engage with the entities that then-President George W. Bush believed were behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack in New York City, argued that there was a difference between Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war and the president’s authority to use force abroad.
«The position we took then, I think, is the same one that Trump should take now,» John Yoo told Fox News Digital. «As a legal matter, the president doesn’t need the permission of Congress to engage in hostilities abroad. But as a political matter, it’s very important for the president to go to Congress and present the united front to our enemies.»
THUNE WARNS IRAN SHOULD RETURN TO NEGOTIATING TABLE ‘IF THEY’RE SMART’
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., submitted a resolution that would require debate and a vote before any force is used against Iran. (Getty Images)
The Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the White House, giving lawmakers the sole power to declare war, while the president acts as the commander in chief directing the military. Nearly two centuries later, at the height of the Vietnam War, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was born, which sought to further define those roles.
Yoo agreed that the Constitution was clear that Congress has the sole authority to declare war, which effectively changes the legal status of the country. However, he countered that «the framers did not think that language meant that the President and Congress are like the two weapons officers on a nuclear sub and have to turn the keys at the same time to use force.»
«The founders were very practical men, and they knew that Congress is slow to act, that Congress is a large body that deliberates, but it’s the president who acts swiftly and decisively in defense of the nation,» he said.
Adding fuel to the debate in Washington are a pair of resolutions in the Senate from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the House, from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., that would require debate and a vote before any force is used against Iran. The measures are designed to put a check on Trump’s power and reaffirm Congress’ constitutional authority.
‘ANOTHER ENDLESS CONFLICT’: DEMOCRAT ECHOES TRUMP’S ANTI-WAR STANCE AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS ESCALATE
President Donald Trump, left, and Rep. Thomas Massie. (WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Yoo said that the resolutions appeared to be forms of «political opportunism» and noted that when former President Joe Biden wanted to send aid to Ukraine, when former President Barack Obama engaged abroad or when Trump authorized a drone strike to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, there was no resolution demanding Congress have a say.
«People on the Hill are conflating what’s constitutionally necessary with what’s politically expedient,» Yoo said. «Two very different things.»
Congress’ real power over war, he said, was the power of the purse, meaning lawmakers’ ability to decide whether to fund the Pentagon and military in their appropriations process. Republicans are currently working to ram Trump’s «big, beautiful bill» through Congress and onto his desk by Independence Day.
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Included in the colossal bill is roughly $150 billion in funding for the Defense Department.
«If Congress really doesn’t want us to, doesn’t want Trump to, get deeper involved in the Israel-Iran war,» Yoo said. «All they got to do is not fund the military.»
«The ironic thing is, you have people who are voting to give extra tens of billions of dollars to the Defense Department, who are then turning around and complaining that they don’t have the ability to vote on war,» he said. «Every time they vote for funding, they’re voting to make war possible.»
INTERNACIONAL
GOP lawmaker shocked after anti-ICE sheriff was stumped by ‘fifth-grade civics’ question
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North Carolina Republican state Rep. Allen Chesser said he was taken by surprise when a Democratic sheriff who has long opposed cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not answer a basic question about how the government works.
A North Carolina House Oversight Committee hearing spurred on by the recent killing of a young Ukrainian woman, Iryna Zarutska, in Charlotte, took an unexpected turn when Chesser asked Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, «What branch of government do you operate under?»
McFadden, who is the top law enforcement officer in the county where Zarutska was killed, simply answered, «Mecklenburg County,» prompting Chesser to repeat, «What branch of government do you operate under, sheriff?»
The sheriff answered, «The Constitution of the United States,» to which Chesser responded, «That is what establishes the branches of government; I’m asking what branch you fall under.»
After McFadden answered, «Mecklenburg County» again, Chesser remarked, «This is not where I was anticipating getting stuck. Um, are you aware of how many branches of government there are?» The sheriff quickly shot back, «No.»
CHARLOTTE LIGHT-RAIL STABBING MURDER SPURS LANDMARK CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM FROM NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICANS
Left: The skyline of the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, which sits in Mecklenburg County. Right: Sheriff Garry McFadden. (Andrea Evangelo-Giamou / EyeEm via Getty Images; The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
After a long pause, Chesser continued, «For the sake of debate, let’s say there are three branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial. Of those three, which do you fall under?»
The sheriff answered, «I believe I fall under the last one … judicial.»
«You are incorrect, sir. You fall under the executive,» said Chesser.
After that, Chesser continued to press McFadden about how he reconciles his responsibility as an officer under the executive branch to enforce the law with his opposition to cooperation with ICE. Chesser asked McFadden how he reconciled his responsibility with a previous statement in which the sheriff said, «We do not have a role in enforcement whatsoever, we do not have to follow the rules and the laws that are governed by our lawmakers in Raleigh.»
The sheriff said that Chesser was taking his quote out of context, saying it was strictly in reference to immigration enforcement.
Though declining to offer more context on the statement, McFadden affirmed his office is now abiding by state law requiring cooperation with ICE, saying, «We follow the law, when the law is produced, we follow the law.»
HOUSE DEM EXPLODES ON TOP TRUMP IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL, SAYS HE ‘BETTER HOPE’ FOR PARDON FROM PRESIDENT
Iryna Zarutska curls up in fear as a man looms over her during a disturbing attack on a Charlotte, N.C., light rail train. (NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)
In an interview with Fox News Digital the day after the hearing, Chesser, who is an Army veteran and former police officer, said that, «Obviously, those weren’t the cache of questions that I was thinking we were going to get him on.»
«I had several statements that he had made to the media and to the local press and in different interviews that kind of conflicted with some of the testimony that he provided yesterday about following the law. We made it to [only] one of those statements because we got held up on what I thought was baseline, just kind of setting a baseline of how we were to establish that his role is to enforce the law,» he explained, adding, «I was not expecting to have to get into a fifth-grade civics lesson with a duly elected sheriff.»
He said that McFadden has «decided to make himself kind of a centerpiece in the refusal to enforce immigration law here in North Carolina,» adding, «It’s not so much the refusal to enforce immigration law, but it’s the refusal to enforce state law that says he must cooperate with ICE and ICE detainers when people are in custody in his facilities.»
WHO IS IRYNA ZARUTSKA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE KILLED IN CHARLOTTE TRAIN ATTACK?
Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska came to the U.S. to escape war but was stabbed to death in Charlotte. (Evgeniya Rush/GoFundMe)
«Last summer, we had the unfortunate death of a young Ukrainian national that had sought refuge in our country and in our state,» Chesser went on. «I think that all North Carolinians, and all people who find themselves in North Carolina, should be able to count on one thing when it comes to public safety, and that is whether or not you are safe and whether or not the law will be enforced is not dependent on what county you find yourself in.»
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«North Carolina is a safe state for all the people who choose to come here, and that is the point of the Oversight Committee [hearing] that we were having was, making sure that the law is equally applied and fairly applied across all imaginary lines in our state,» he said.
The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reportedly planning to announce a presidential election and a referendum on a potential peace deal to end the war with Russia, with the declaration expected on Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
The Financial Times, citing Ukrainian and European officials involved in the planning, reported on Wednesday that both a presidential vote, in which Zelenskyy would seek re-election, and a nationwide referendum could be held by May 15.
The outlet said Kyiv could risk losing proposed U.S. security guarantees if it does not hold both votes by that date.
The Financial Times noted that although earlier U.S.-imposed deadlines have come and gone, American officials are this time applying heavier pressure on Ukraine as the November midterm elections loom.
ZELENSKYY READY TO PRESENT NEW PEACE PROPOSALS TO US AND RUSSIA AFTER WORKING WITH EUROPEAN TALKS
A note marks a ballot box for voters with high temperatures at a polling station during the 2020 Ukrainian local elections in Rubizhne, Luhansk Region, eastern Ukraine, on Oct. 25, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Kovalyov Oleksiy/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
It added that the timeline could also be complicated by the wide gap between Moscow and Kyiv on key territorial issues, including control of the Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as well as the need for parliament to amend legislation because martial law currently bars national elections during wartime.
Zelenskyy previously stressed that the timing and format of any elections are matters solely for Ukraine and its citizens, rejecting any suggestion that the Kremlin could dictate the process.
In several lengthy posts on X in December, he argued that two key factors would determine whether voting is possible: security and legislation.
ZELENSKYY SAYS US SECURITY GUARANTEES DOCUMENT IS ‘100% READY’ FOR SIGNING
A woman casts her ballot at a mobile polling station during early voting in Russia’s presidential election in Donetsk, Russian-occupied Ukraine, on March 14, 2024. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
Zelenskyy said voting can only take place on Ukrainian-controlled territory and must ensure the participation of soldiers defending the country. Elections cannot be held in Russian-occupied areas, he explained, because of concerns over how they would be conducted.
He also suggested that a ceasefire, at least for the duration of an election or referendum, may be necessary to guarantee secure conditions, including protected airspace and the presence of international observers.
The reported deadline from the Trump administration comes after The Associated Press reported that Washington is aiming for the war to end by June.
Ukrainian servicemen vote at a polling station during Ukraine’s parliamentary elections in Velyki Mosty, Lviv Oblast, on July 21, 2019. (Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Trilateral talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine were held in Abu Dhabi in early February, where the sides met twice but emerged with only a limited breakthrough — agreeing to a 314-person prisoner exchange, the first such swap in five months.
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U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington and Moscow agreed to reestablish a military-to-military dialogue, calling the channel «crucial to achieving and maintaining peace.»
He said trilateral discussions would continue in the coming weeks after the delegations report back to their respective capitals.
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