President Donald Trump is acting within his legal authority in the ongoing conflict with Iran and has complied with the requirements of the War Powers Act, former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova said on Newsmax Sunday.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend," diGenova said historical precedent shows presidents have frequently used military force without formal declarations of war from Congress.
"There have been 500 uses of U.S. military forces since the beginning of the Republic," diGenova said, citing Congressional Research Service studies on the War Powers Act. "There have been only five declarations of war during those 250 years."
He said many military deployments were authorized through statutes or undertaken without formal congressional declarations.
"There have been about 150 deployments through the use of statutes authorizing things like the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution," diGenova said.
DiGenova also pointed to previous administrations, including former President Barack Obama's decision to intervene in Libya in 2011.
"Barack Obama went into Libya in 2011 with no authority whatsoever, overthrew the government, caused civil unrest, civil war in the country, and regional war," he said. "An absolutely stupid use of power in that case."
In contrast, diGenova said Trump has followed the requirements outlined in the War Powers Act by notifying Congress of military operations related to Iran.
"In this case, the president has given notice under the War Powers Act, which most presidents consider to be unconstitutional," he said. "He's in total compliance with whatever the Democrats want."
DiGenova criticized Democrats for attempting to use war powers oversight to challenge the administration's actions during the conflict.
"The problem with the Democrats is they don't have an idea," he said. "They have a vicious streak in them, and all they want to do is hurt Trump. That's the problem."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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