About Declarations of War by Congress (2024)

FAQs

What says Congress can declare war? ›

Article I, Section 8, Clause 11: [The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; . . .

Declarations of War

The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war. Congress has declared war on 11 occasions, including its first declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812. Congress approved its last formal declaration of war during World War II.

In modern public international law, a declaration of war entails the recognition between countries of a state of hostilities between these countries, and such declaration has acted to regulate the conduct between the military engagements between the forces of the respective countries.

Answer. World War II was the war formally declared by Congress among the given options, with no declarations for Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, or the Iraq War. The correct answer is (b). The war that was declared by Congress among the options provided is World War II.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war. The President, meanwhile, derives the power to direct the military after a Congressional declaration of war from Article II, Section 2, which names the President Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered this address to a joint session of Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany.

The Power of Congress to Declare War

Chief Justice Marshall appears to have taken a still different view, namely that the power to wage war is implied from the power to declare it.

The president of the U.S. is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the DoD and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out.

Lawfully declared war

Only a war lawfully declared, by a government with the authority to declare war, can be a just war. This rule enormously restricts the number of groups that can ethically wage war. For example, it stops wars declared by rebels who've overthrown a legal government being considered ethical.

It provides that the president can send the U.S. Armed Forces into action abroad only by declaration of war by Congress, "statutory authorization", or in case of "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces".

Can the president send troops without Congress approval? ›

The Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the president. Only Congress can declare war and appropriate military funding, yet the president is commander in chief of the armed forces.

Declarations of war were handled in the Hague treaty not the Geneva Conventions. War today is generally banned by the UN charter, so it is not a war crime to “attack without a declaration of war”. The crime occurs when war is started without a legal reason.

Does the president of the United States need Congress's approval to attack another country? In theory, yes. Only Congress has the power to declare war.

Has the U.S. lost a war? The United States has engaged in several wars that resulted in minimal gain or outright loss for the US. These include conflicts like the War of 1812, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Clause 5 Standards

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; ArtI. S8.

Clause 12 Army

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; ArtI. S8. C12.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18: [The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

The Constitution gives Congress a number of expressed powers in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. There are a large number of expressed powers of Congress. These powers include the following: Declare war.