The Senate's War Powers Failure

The Senate’s failure was predictable, but that makes it no less obnoxious.

Last week, the Senate failed once again to assert its constitutional authority in matters of war:

The Republican-led U.S. Senate rejected a Democratic-led bid on Friday to block President Donald Trump from using further military force against Iran, hours after the president said he would consider more bombing.

The failure of Sen. Kaine’s resolution comes as no surprise. Congress has abdicated one of its most important responsibilities for decades. Few members of Congress care about their constitutional role, and even fewer bother to do anything about it. We have become so accustomed to illegal presidential wars that the real surprise is when Congress tries to stop one of them.

The Senate’s failure was predictable, but that makes it no less obnoxious.