United States Congress

United States Congress
Parent organization	United States
Type	legal
Subgroups	• United States House of Representatives • United States Senate • Government Accountability Office • Library of Congress • Congressional Research Service • Congressional Budget Office

Official Narrative

Article I of the US Constitution states "all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives." The constitution grants each chamber some unique powers, but requires that both chambers agree on legislation to be enacted.

Structure

Congress is split into two chambers, the House and the Senate. It writes national legislation by dividing work into special committees. Some members of Congress are elected by their peers to be officers of these committees. Lobbyists seem to do a lot of writing of legislation nowadays.

War Authorisation

The US Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. Notwithstanding this fact, presidents have been quite capable of initializing hostlities without seeking congressional approval.

In 1970, Time magazine noted: "All told, it has been calculated, U.S. presidents have ordered troops into position or action without a formal congressional declaration a total of 149 times" before 1970.

In 1990 George H. W. Bush claimed he could attack Iraq and launch a "deliberate, unhurried, post-Cold War decision to start a war" without needing approval from the US Congress, prompting one a write for Time magazine to note that "Congress's war power has become the most flagrantly disregarded provision in the Constitution," and that the "real erosion (of Congressional authority to declare war) began after World War II."

Investigations

Vince_Foster's Death

The US Congress concluded that the death of Vince Foster was a suicide.

 

A Document by United States Congress

Use the Up/Dn symbols to sort

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
H.RES.758	legal document	18 November 2014	War Russia The Great Game United States	This bill puts America on a footing for war against Russia. It has received close to zero coverage in the US and other establishment media.

References

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