'Does the president have the right to order military action without a vote from Congress?'

Houthi followers lift rifles and shout slogans against the U.S.-U.K. during a tribal gathering on January 14, 2024 on the outskirts of Sana'a, Yemen. Houthi followers gathered to protest against the U.S.-U.K. airstrikes on positions in areas under their control.

(Image credit: Mohammed Hamoud / Getty Images)

By Harold Maass, The Week US

published 16 January 2024

'With respect to a wartime action, the Constitution is quite clear'

Daniel DePetris in the Chicago Tribune

President Joe Biden's decision to attack Houthi militants in Yemen surprised nobody, says Daniel DePetris in the Chicago Tribune. It should have. The Constitution states Congress, not the commander-in-chief, has "sole responsibility" for ordering military action, but presidents seem to feel free to pull the trigger whenever they see fit, "without Congress' buy-in." Lawmakers have to show "some backbone" and take tough votes instead of hiding "under the desk" whenever "the subject of war comes up."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.