How Congress gave up its power over war and peace

In 1973, after it was discovered that the U.S. had secretly bombed Cambodia, Congress took action.

In an effort to assert its power over matters of war and peace, Congress pushed through the War Powers Resolution despite then-President Richard Nixon’s veto, and it has been law ever since.

Unfortunately, congressional enforcement of the War Powers Resolution has been mixed. In 2026 alone, Congress has put forward some 19 war powers resolutions in an attempt to rein in hostilities in Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and Lebanon. So far, none of these resolutions has stopped a conflict.

Take Iran, for example. There have been eight votes to end the war, seven of which failed. Just one of these passed and only because Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) changed course after losing his primary to a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump, giving him leeway to vote against the bulk of the Republican Party.

Cassidy’s move highlights one of the main problems with the War Powers Resolution: too many of our elected officials cast votes for political gain, not American interests.

In case you haven’t noticed, the war with Iran is still going strong. To understand why, we welcomed Tori Bateman to Always at War. She’s the Quincy Institute’s Director of Advocacy and spends her hours talking with constituents and lawmakers, while working to educate members of Congress on the importance of diplomacy and how they can use their power to protect the American people without needless force.

As Bateman explains, even when a war powers resolution passes, the president can still veto it, meaning a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate would be required to override that veto. As you may imagine, this has never happened. So the resolutions keep the wars top of mind on the Hill, but they rarely stop anything on the ground.

Still, constituents aren’t powerless. Many of those calls Americans make to voice their concerns aren’t falling on deaf ears. Bateman relays a powerful story of how one member of Congress’s staff became familiar with Section 219 – the U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative buried inside this year’s NDAA – after more than 50 constituents called the senator’s office about it.

The lesson: there’s still hope our members of Congress can begin to reflect the needs and desires of their constituents on matters of war and peace.