On Monday, President Trump sent to Congress a notice that he’d ordered an aerial invasion of Iran. He said the notice was “consistent with” the War Powers Act (WPA).
Why the sneer quotes? To underscore that “consistent with” is not the same as “in compliance with.” The former implies a discretionary accommodation, a courtesy. An expression of compliance, by contrast, would concede a legal duty. This president never concedes that his powers have strings attached. Indeed, this president would not even tip his red cap to the familiar twaddle about our “three peer branches” of government; a nod to the verity that our constitutional framework makes the people’s representatives, not the executive, primus inter pares would be out of the question.
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