Congressional Authority to Limit Military Operations

CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY TO LIMIT MILITARY OPERATIONS

Does Congress have the constitutional authority to legislate limits on
the conduct of the war in Iraq?

The answer may seem obvious. But to resolve any lingering doubt, the
Congressional Research Service gave the topic a thorough analytic
treatment in a newly updated report and concluded that Congress does
have such authority.

"It has been suggested that the President's role as Commander in Chief
of the Armed Forces provides sufficient authority for his deployment of
troops, and any efforts on the part of Congress to intervene could
represent an unconstitutional violation of separation-of-powers
principles."

"While even proponents of strong executive prerogative in matters of
war appear to concede that it is within Congress's authority to cut off
funding entirely for a military operation, it has been suggested that
spending measures that restrict but do not end financial support for
the war in Iraq would amount to an 'unconstitutional condition'."

To rebut any such suggestion, the newly updated CRS report "provides
historical examples of measures that restrict the use of particular
personnel, and concludes with a brief analysis of arguments that might
be brought to bear on the question of Congress's authority to limit the
availability of troops to serve in Iraq."

"Although not beyond debate, such a restriction appears to be within
Congress's authority to allocate resources for military operations,"
the report stated.

See "Congressional Authority To Limit U.S. Military Operations in
Iraq," updated July 11, 2007:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33837.pdf

See, relatedly, "Defense: FY2008 Authorization and Appropriations,"
updated July 13, 2007:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33999.pdf

and "FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs,
and Other Purposes," updated July 2, 2007:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33900.pdf