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1 1 (April 29, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govepae0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Assessing Recent U.S. Airstrikes in the Middle East Under the War Powers Framework April 29, 2024 Airstrikes by U.S. forces in the Middle East have markedly increased since the outbreak of the current Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, 2023. To date, the targets have been Iranian-supported militant groups in Iraq and Syria and in Yemen and the Red Sea. The strikes have prompted questions by Members of Congress and legal scholars about the legality of the President's use of force under both U.S. and international law. The Biden Administration has submitted reports consistent with the War Powers Resolution (WPR) to Congress following some of the strikes, setting forth the legal authorities that the executive branch relies on to justify its military actions. This Legal Sidebar focuses on the application of the domestic war powers framework to the strikes. It begins by explaining relevant Supreme Court precedent and the respective understandings of war powers advanced by Congress and by the executive branch over time. The Sidebar then examines the Biden Administration's asserted legal bases for recent strikes under this domestic war powers legal framework and discusses ways that Congress would seek to enhance or constrain executive authority to carry out such strikes. The U.S. War Powers Framework The Framers of the Constitution purposefully divided war powers between Congress and the President. Article I grants Congress several powers related to the use of force, including the powers to declare war, raise and support the Army, provide for the Navy, regulate the Armed Forces, and issue letters of marque and reprisal. Article II makes the President Commander in Chief' of the Army and Navy, as well as the Militia when in federal service. Presidents have claimed-and the Supreme Court and Congress have to varying extents recognized-that Article II includes inherent presidential war power that is not expressly provided in the Constitution and that may be exercised independently of Congress. Accordingly, it is well established that there are two potential sources of presidential authority to use force, although their contours are often debated: Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11157 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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