On June 6, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), held a hearing entitled, “War Powers and the Effects of Unauthorized Military Engagements on Federal Spending.”

The hearing focused on the constitutional implications of open-ended war under both the existing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the revised AUMF proposed by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

The FSO subcommittee heard testimony from Judge Andrew Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst at the Fox News Channel; Professor Jonathan Turley from The George Washington University School of Law; and Christopher Anders, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office.

In addition to FSO subcommittee members, Dr. Paul opened the hearing to other senators, with Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) asking questions of the witnesses.  

“[I]t is the job of Congress to declare or initiate war, and Congress has been negligent for over a decade now. Congress has not done its job. Congress has let president after president strip the war power from Congress and concentrate that power in the Executive,” Dr. Paul said in his opening statement.

Regarding what the situation would look like under the Corker-Kaine AUMF, Judge Andrew Napolitano testified, “So a president with one-third plus one in either house can wage war on any target at any time the president chooses to do so. That is so contrary to what Madison intended, so contrary to the plain meaning of the Constitution, so violative of the separation of powers as to be a rejection of the oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and none of you wants to reject that oath.”

You can watch Dr. Paul’s opening statement HERE and the full hearing HERE.