The War Powers Act (formally the War Powers Resolution) was passed by Congress in 1973 despite a veto by Richard Nixon. It sought to limit the war-making ability of presidents by reasserting Congress's constitutional power to declare war. In practice, however, the act has rarely constrained them.
Donald Trump has offered the latest example. In 2025-26 he bombed Yemen and Iran, struck suspected terrorists in Somalia, Syria and Nigeria, blasted alleged narco-traffickers at sea, snatched Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, and threatened Colombia and Mexico—all while ignoring sporadic objections from the legislature. Successive bills to prevent further military action against Iran and Venezuela without congressional approval were defeated. On January 8th 2026 five Republican senators voted to advance a war-powers resolution on Venezuela; a furious Trump declared they "should never be elected to office again". A week later two recanted, and the resolution failed after J.D. Vance cast a tie-breaking vote. A similar bill in the House was defeated when the vote ended in a tie.
Every cloud has a silver lining; you should have sold it, and bought titanium.