what are the powers that only belong to the US House of Representatives

Ability to Declare War

"The Congress shall have Power To . . . provide for the common Defence and full general Welfare of the The states."
—U.South. Constitution, Article I, department 8, clause ane

"The Congress shall have Power . . . To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
"To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Apply shall be for a longer Term than ii Years;
"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 Matrimony, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
"To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them every bit may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to usa respectively, the Date of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the subject area prescribed by Congress"
—U.S. Constitution, Article I, department 8, clauses 11–16

Origins

Like many powers articulated in the U.Due south. Constitution, Congress' authority to declare war was revolutionary in its design, and a clear pause from the past when a handful of European monarchs controlled the continent's affairs.

The framers of the Constitution—reluctant to concentrate too much influence in the hands of likewise few—denied the part of the President the authorization to get to war unilaterally. If America was going to survive equally a republic, they reasoned, declarations of state of war required careful argue in open forums among the public's representatives.¹

"The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making powers to Congress, was dictated, equally I understand it, by the following reasons," a young first-term Congressman named Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1848 during America'south War with Mexico. "Kings had e'er been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending mostly, if non always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our [Constitutional] Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon u.s.a.."²

Constitutional Framing

/tiles/not-collection/i/i_origins_biennal_elections_madison_hc.xml Collection of the U.South. House of Representatives
Nearly this object James Madison was an integral part of the constitutional framing of the House.

Initially, delegates to the Constitutional Convention discussed America'due south war powers in general terms, briefly mentioning the "common defense force, security of freedom and general welfare" of the country's citizens.³ Then in early June, 1787, Charles Pinkney of South Carolina argued for "a vigorous Executive," reopening the war powers issue. Merely to give the part war-making powers would turn the President into an elected monarch, Pinkney argued. Other delegates, including John Rutledge of South Carolina, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, and James Madison of Virginia agreed, final that the powers of war and peace were best reserved for the national legislature.⁴

By August, the framers had yet to decide where to vest the country'southward war powers. Pierce Butler of South Carolina favored the Executive function equally best suited to brand state of war. Simply in that location was a growing sense that such awe-inspiring responsibility belonged with the legislative branch. Not anybody was convinced that the Firm and Senate should share the power, nevertheless, and Pinkney felt that since the Senate already had jurisdiction over treaties, it alone should have discretion to make up one's mind war matters also.

Madison and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts sought a middle footing. For Gerry, giving a single office the entirety of the land's war powers contradicted the goals of a republic, and he and Madison proposed a quick edit, replacing "make" with "declare" and then that the Constitution would read "Congress shall have ability to declare war." The change codified congressional authority simply made the clause flexible plenty to enable the President to defend the state during emergencies. The delegates worried that Congress would be out of session or would human activity too slowly if strange forces invaded America. So, despite their resolve to dilute Executive ability, they gave the function an unsaid authority to "brand war" as an insurance policy of sorts for America's security.

Like George Stonemason of Virginia, the founders felt that war should exist difficult to enter, and they expected congressional debate to restrain the war-making procedure.

On Baronial 17, 1787, the state delegations agreed to strike "brand" and insert "declare" by a vote of eight to 1 (initially it had been 7 to two, but Connecticut switched its position), and in doing then committed the state of war powers to Congress. "The constitution supposes, what the History of all Govts demonstrates," Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson a few years subsequently, "that the Ex. is the branch of power most interested in war, & most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of state of war in the Legisl."⁶

Constitutional Bug

Of the Constitution'due south many checks and balances, few have get as controversial and as consequential every bit the country'southward war powers. Article I is clear in giving Congress the ability to declare war and to federalize state militias. Merely Commodity II, section two, names the President "Commander in Primary of the Army and Navy of the U.s.a., and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States." Although the framers ensured that a noncombatant would lead America's armed services, constitutional scholars take debated for years whether the position of Commander in Master really gives the President authority to open hostilities or whether it was merely a title the Founders conferred on the primary magistrate.^vii

When combined with the President's implied privilege to make war, the question of whether the Commander in Primary carries additional power becomes an issue of vast constitutional consequence, something that'southward plagued the federal arrangement and its scholars over time.⁸ While a shut reading of the Convention debates suggests that the framers intended to limit Presidents to defensive actions, a number of administrations, especially subsequently Earth War II, take broadly interpreted the notion of a defensive war and accept committed U.S. armed forces without congressional authority simply to ask for it later, if they ask for it at all.^ix 1 recent report has described the Constitution's language on initiating hostilities as "cryptic" and more than than i scholar has described the Executive state of war power as "vague."¹⁰ In summarizing the relationship between 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Capitol Hill, another political scientist has written recently that "the Constitution is a paradoxical mix of clearly defined war powers for Congress and implied prerogatives for the president," which over the years created "an uneasy balance betwixt the branches."¹¹

For most of U.South. history, the Constitution's checks and balances worked, and by and large Presidents sought the consent of Congress on war matters. The period following World State of war II, even so, saw the President's war-making discretion reach a level that made many legislators nervous. By the early 1970s, the relationship between the legislative and executive branches reached something of a tipping indicate.

The onset of the Cold War, combined with America's international obligations equally a fellow member of the Un (UN) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), stretched the executive branch's foreign policy footprint to corners of the world that the framers of the Constitution could never have imagined. In the summertime of 1950, for instance, the President ordered an American response to North Korea'due south attack on South korea, and later committed basis forces in Korea later on the UN Security Council asked for assist.¹² And afterwards sequent administrations committed America's military to combat operations in the Dominican Commonwealth, Laos, and Vietnam without formally declaring state of war, Congress' mood soured to the indicate that information technology passed the War Powers Resolution in Nov 1973. Equally stated in the legislation, Congress drafted the War Powers Resolution "to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgement of both the Congress and the President will employ to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities." Since its enactment, even so, the War Powers Resolution has had scant, if whatsoever, issue on the military decisions of sitting Presidents. In fact, many administrations have simply "refused to recognize its constitutionality," co-ordinate to ii political scientists who've studied Congress' ability to influence the White Business firm on war matters.¹³

Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Utilise of Military machine Strength

/tiles/non-collection/4/iv-20-War_gavel-2005_124_000.xml Collection of the U.Southward. Business firm of Representatives
Well-nigh this object This gavel was used during the December 11, 1941, session in which the House approved the declarations of state of war against Germany and Italy. Gavels used in historically significant sessions were occasionally presented as memorabilia.

Since 1789, Congress has declared war 11 times, against 10 countries, during 5 separate conflicts: Great Britain (1812, State of war of 1812); United mexican states (1846, State of war with Mexico); Kingdom of spain (1898, Castilian-American State of war, also known as the War of 1898); Frg (1917, World War I); Austria-Hungary (1917, World War I); Nippon (1941, Globe War 2); Federal republic of germany (1941, Earth War Two); Italia (1941, World War Two); Bulgaria (1942, World War II); Hungary (1942, Globe State of war II); and Rumania (1942, Globe War II).¹⁴ In each of these 11 instances, the President appealed to Congress for authorization either in person before a Joint Session or in a written request.¹⁵

Far more mutual, especially in the modern era, have been congressional authorizations for the use of military force (AUMF) abroad. Historically, AUMFs accept been much narrower in scope and much more express than formal declarations of war, such equally when Congress gave the President clearance to protect American ships against French aggression in 1789 and against Tripoli's navy in 1802. After World State of war 2, notwithstanding, AUMFs became much broader, often granting Presidents sweeping authority to engage America's military around the world.^sixteen Take, for case, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution of 1964. As communist forces in Vietnam took increasingly militaristic deportment against U.S. forces, Congress authorized the President, in sweeping simply vague linguistic communication, "to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia."¹⁷

In fact, despite engaging in conflicts in places similar Vietnam and Iraq over the concluding lxx years, Congress has not declared state of war since 1942. Rather, the individual congressional AUMFs have been interpreted "as fully empowering the President to prosecute the wars," according to law professors, Curtis A. Bradley and Jack L. Goldsmith.¹⁸ Although the concept of the AUMF has existed since the start of the Commonwealth, the specific use of the term became commonplace in the 1990s during the Gulf State of war.¹⁹

The House'southward Office

For about of the modernistic era, the Business firm has acted quickly once Presidents take requested formal declarations of war. Traditionally, the Firm Commission on Foreign Affairs has considered bills sending American troops to fight abroad, and in at least i instance, in 1924, the Business firm has pulled "legislation disposed to promote peace and discourage war" from the Judiciary Commission and referred it to the Committee on Military Affairs.²⁰ Get-go with World War II, all declarations of war have come before Congress equally articulation resolutions, and in each instance the House suspended the rules in order to quickly pass the measure.²¹

The conclusion to send the nation to state of war is perhaps Congress's gravest responsibility, and in the House war votes can exist solemn, weighty occasions. For the Members, to declare state of war confronting a foreign power is to send their constituents, their neighbors, their family, and even themselves into harm's manner.

Ane day after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in early December 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed a Joint Session of Congress, laying out his cause for war. When the House gathered immediately afterward to discuss Roosevelt'due south request, Jeannette Rankin of Montana repeatedly sought recognition to address the bedroom. Twenty-iv years before, Rankin had voted against America's entry into World State of war I, and on the eve of World War II, even as the war resolution against Nihon went through its showtime reading, Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas, who witnessed Rankin'south previous vote in 1917, refused to recognize her. As Members prepared for the final vote, many approached Rankin hoping to convince her to vote for the war; at the very to the lowest degree they hoped she would vote nowadays, or abstain all together. When the reading clerk reached her proper noun during the curl telephone call on the resolution'due south final passage, Rankin voted no, the only vote confronting. The bill passed 388–ane. "As a woman I can't go to war," she said, "and I refuse to send anyone else." Afterward the chamber erupted in protest to her vote, Rankin waited in a phone booth before the Capitol Police escorted her back to her office.

With one exception early on, votes to declare war in the House tended to pass with overwhelming majorities. Declaring state of war or passing an AUMF, yet, is merely the first stride. One time the fighting begins, Congress assumes some other constitutional role: that of oversight.

Country (War)	Date	Business firm Vote
Great Britain (War of 1812)	June 4, 1812	79–49
Mexico (War with United mexican states)	May 11, 1846	174–14
Spain (War of 1898)	April 25, 1898	Vocalization vote
Federal republic of germany (Earth War I)	April 6, 1917	373–fifty
Republic of austria-Hungary (World War I)	December 7, 1917	365–1
Nihon (Globe War 2)	December 8, 1941	388–1
Deutschland (Globe State of war Two)	Dec eleven, 1941	393–0
Italy (World War II)	December xi, 1941	399–0
Bulgaria (Earth War 2)	June iii, 1942	357–0
Hungary (World War II)	June 3, 1942	360–0
Rumania (World War 2)	June 3, 1942	361–022

For Further Reading

Bradley, Curtis A. and Jack 50. Goldsmith, "Congressional Authorization and the War on Terrorism." Harvard Police Review 118 no. vii (2005): 2047–2133.

Burgess, Susan R. "State of war Powers." In The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, edited by Donald C. Salary, et al., vol. 4, pages 2097–2100. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Cannon's Precedents of the Business firm of Representatives of the United States. Volume 7, §1894. GPO: Washington, D.C., 1935.

Deschler's Precedents of the House of Representatives of the United States. Volume 3, Chapter 13, §3–11. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1976–1977.

Elsea, Jennifer K. and Matthew C. Weed. "Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Armed services Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications." Congressional Research Service, 18 April 2014, RL31133.

Fisher, Louis. President and Congress: Power and Policy. The Free Press: New York, 1972.

_____. Presidential War Power. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 1995.

_____. Ramble Conflicts betwixt Congress and the President. 4th edition. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 1997.

_____. Congressional Abdication on War and Spending. Higher Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 2000.

_____. "Clinton'southward Military Action: No Rivals in Sight." In Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations, edited by James A. Thurber, pages 229–254. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Fowler, Linda 50. "Congressional State of war Powers." In The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress, edited by Eric Schickler and Frances Eastward. Lee, pages 812–833. Oxford University Printing, 2011.

Hinds' Precedents of the House of Representatives of the U.s.. Vol. IV, §4164. GPO: Washington, D.C., 1907.

Howell, William G. and Jon C. Pevenhouse. While Dangers Gather: Congressional Checks on Presidential State of war Powers. Princeton: Princeton Academy Press, 2007.

Katzmann, Robert A. "War Powers Resolution." In The Encyclopedia of the The states Congress, vol.. 4, edited by Donald C. Bacon, et al., pages 2100–2102. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Kriner, Douglas L. After the Rubicon: Congress, Presidents, and the Politics of Waging War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Torreon, Barbara Salazar. "Instances of Use of United States War machine Away, 1798-2015." Congressional Research Service, 15 January 2015. R42738.

Weed, Matthew C. "The War Powers Resolution: Concepts and Practice." Congressional Research Service, 3 April 2015. R42699

Zeisberg, Mariah. War Powers: The Politics of Ramble Authority. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.

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Source: https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/War-Powers/

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