Bipartisan legislators address congressional authority regarding Russia-Ukraine conflict

A group of lawmakers is encouraging President Joe Biden to gain authorization from Congress before involving domestic armed forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) joined 43 colleagues in signing off on the letter, which seeks the administration’s respect for the separation of powers, U.S. law, and Congress’s constitutional war powers authority.

“Should your administration seek to introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities or decline to remove any U.S. military personnel currently deployed inside Ukraine from unauthorized hostilities or imminent hostilities, Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios,” the legislators wrote. “The American people, through their representatives in Congress, deserve to have a say before U.S. troops are placed in harm’s way or the U.S. becomes involved in yet another foreign conflict.”

In the letter, the legislators cite Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which grants Congress the power to finance and declare war and Article II naming the President as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.

“This crossover was intentionally written by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, so Congress and the President would be required to cooperate on our nation’s military affairs,” the legislators concluded.

Erik Sperling, executive director of the advocacy organization Just Foreign Policy, said with the risk of war over Ukraine escalating rapidly, the letter reaffirming only Congress can authorize military action is timely.

“While the Biden administration has ruled out sending additional troops, even allowing U.S. advisers and special forces to remain in harm’s way in Ukraine without authorization creates the potential for direct conflict between the world’s leading nuclear powers,” Sperling said.