Pompeo won't promise to consult Congress about potential military intervention in Venezuela

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday confirmed that the Trump administration is making contingency plans for U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, but he refused to say whether the administration would seek congressional authorization first.

When asked directly on ABC’s “This Week” whether President Trump believes he has the power to intervene without seeking approval from Congress, Pompeo declined to answer.

“I don’t want to speak to that,” he said, pointing to the powers granted to the president as commander in chief under the Constitution. “The president has his full range of Article 2 authorities, and I’m very confident that any action we took in Venezuela would be lawful,” he said.

The Trump administration has long flirted with the idea of a military intervention to back the campaign by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who tried but failed last week to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

But Pompeo’s evasion of a direct question about the role of Congress — which is the body empowered to declare war under the Constitution — could strike a nerve with several Republicans, who have chafed at other administrations pursuing military campaigns on what they see as flimsy or nonexistent legal grounds.

On Friday, Sen. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) called on the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is a member, to hold a hearing on the use of military force in Venezuela, noting he was “concerned by reports of possible U.S. military intervention” without congressional authorization.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pompeo-wont-promise-to-consult-congress-about-potential-military-intervention-in-venezuela/ar-AAAWfUs?li=BBnb7Kz

[spanone]

1. Dictatorship.

Republicans will back him 1000%

[Zoonart]

2. Hence the phone call with Putin.

[struggle4progress]

3. "The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war"

https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/WarDeclarationsbyCongress.htm

[struggle4progress]

4. Power to Declare War

... Congress’ authority to declare war was revolutionary in its design, and a clear break 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 too few — denied the office of the President the authority to go to war unilaterally. If America was going to survive as a republic, they reasoned, declarations of war required careful debate in open forums among the public’s representatives ...

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

[struggle4progress]

5. "... the War Powers Resolution can be broken down into several distinct parts ...

The second part requires the President to consult with Congress before introducing U.S. armed forces into hostilities or situations where hostilities are imminent, and to continue such consultations as long as U.S. armed forces remain in such situations ..."

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/war-powers.php