Democrats plan high-stakes showdown with Trump over war powers

Punchbowl News reports that the incoming Democratic majority will run straight to the courts if President Donald Trump tries to railroad the new Congress over its war power.

Trump has already signaled his eagerness to ignore the new Congress, posting a red hat with the words “Veto” on his social media platform, and Trump has instructed his former personal lawyer (and now full-time Department of Justice head) Todd Blanche to threaten Democrats for daring to probe allegations of corruption against him.

Additionally, Trump’s desire to continue his costly and unpopular war in Iran is another topic first on Democrats’ hit list when they take House and Senate majorities in January.

Trump’s Republican majority has been a rubberstamp for the war, despite the battle’s subsequent inflation and high gas prices driving the blue wave that booted them from their Congressional majorities. But Democrats have made clear they are not so complacent.

“Democrats will ‘absolutely’ turn to federal courts to enforce successful war powers votes if the Trump administration continues to ignore the next Congress, the incoming chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee,” told Punchbowl News.

“We’re looking at that,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said. “I’m exploring all options, but that is one of the options that we have to look at.”

Trump and his officials appear to be hazy on Congress’ power to make or break military operations.

"Congress does not have a constitutional role in the declaration of war. Congress has a role in cutting off funds for wars, which it has threatened to do. And the president doesn’t have to get permission," said Nadia Schadlow, who served as a Trump deputy national security adviser. "But yes, you can debate, you can decide. That’s his choice in how he wants to do it."

However, the Constitution is clear on Congress’ power. Article I, Section 8, outlines what "The Congress shall have Power To do," and Clause 11 says that on that list is the power "to declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water." Additionally, Congress has the power “To raise and support Armies … To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.”

If the Supreme Court is capable of reading the same Constitutional paragraphs, then Democrats are banking that justices will also know this, and they will have a strong responsibility to make that interpretation clear to the White House. Hence, Democrats’ eagerness to press the issue even with a Supreme Court dominated by Republican appointed justices.

In the meantime, Democrats are already preparing for a budget showdown with Trump and his staff, with Democrats preparing a confrontation with the president in the early months of their new roles.