Abstract
What would happen if Congress declared war against the president’s wishes? Would the president be forced to prosecute the war? Or are there mechanisms, whether through the system of checks and balances or the president’s own delegated, independent powers, that give the president the authority to disregard Congress’s declaration? This Note argues that a declaration of war must go through the process of bicameralism and presentment to be valid. Thus, the president has the authority to veto a declaration of war. If Congress overcomes the president’s veto, this Note concludes that the president must prosecute the war. The president does not have the independent authority under the commander-in-chief power to overcome Congress’s declare-war power. Further, the president has a separate duty under the Take Care Clause to faithfully execute the law, which includes a declaration of war.
Citation
Andrea L. R. Pillai,
Hawks and Doves: Evaluating Presidential Powers and Duties Against Congress's Power to Declare War,
73 Duke Law Journal
389-423
(2023)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol73/iss2/3