A bipartisan group of senators is pushing to grant Congress an unprecedented role in crafting U.S. foreign policy and drastically expand lawmakers’ ability to roll back key presidential national-security decisions.
A newly unveiled bill effectively recalibrates the balance of power, putting Congress on near-equal footing with the commander-in-chief as the driver of Washington’s posture toward the world. It aims to reverse the decades-long erosion of the House and Senate’s authority to shape American foreign policy.
“Before it’s too late, Congress needs to reclaim its rightful role as co-equal branch on matters of war and national security,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who introduced the bill alongside Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “The bipartisan National Security Powers Act will make sure that there is a full, open and public debate on all major national security decisions.”
The bill would make it easier for lawmakers to outright reverse the president’s foreign-policy decisions — potentially even in real-time — including on war authorizations, weapons sales and emergency declarations.
Its introduction marks a watershed moment on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are growing increasingly amenable to restricting presidential power, with progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans joining forces on various efforts.
Murphy said the bill aims to chart a course correction for Congress, which has “acquiesced to the growing, often unchecked power of the executive to determine the outline of America’s footprint in the world.”
Presidents have long relied on open-ended emergency declarations, existing war authorizations and other means to sidestep congressional involvement in global conflicts, especially as those fights metastasize or diminish over time, rendering lawmakers powerless as the commander-in-chief goes it alone.
The National Security Powers Act repeals all existing war authorizations and would automatically cut off funding for military operations that do not have explicit approval of Congress. It would also require those authorizations to include a specific end date in order to protect against open-ended military conflicts. Perhaps most notably, it repeals the War Powers Act, the 1973 law that presidents have long flouted to evade congressional approval.
Further, the bill requires both chambers to approve most weapons sales to foreign countries and entities. Currently, the administration is required to notify foreign-policy committee leaders on Capitol Hill, and the sale automatically goes through unless the House and Senate act to reverse it within 30 days with a veto-proof majority vote. Former President Donald Trump frustrated lawmakers when he used legal loopholes to prevent Congress from adequately considering expensive arms sales to security partners in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.