I’ve said thousands of times, both publicly and privately, that Congress has abdicated its power to the President, effectively creating a de facto king every four years. The Trump Administration is no different from other administrations in exercising the power afforded to it. The only exception is the speed and breadth of its actions.
My concern today is not discussed much in the media because everyone is focused on Trump ordering the National Guard to deploy to Portland and Chicago. While those orders are controversial and arguably unnecessary (there is at least some justification for protecting federal officers and property), the larger concern should be the designation of drug cartels as terrorists and the blowing up of so-called Venezuelan “drug boats,” killing everyone on board. Our nation should not have the right or power to do this without proper justification and proof. So far, the Trump Administration has provided none.
Trump is using a power granted to the President by Congress in 1996. In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), with the House of Representatives (293 to 133) and the Senate (91 to 8) approving it. President Bill Clinton signed it into law.
This law allows the President to designate foreign organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) if they meet criteria such as engaging in terrorist activity—a vague term—that threatens U.S. security, nationals, or interests. Since Trump took office, his administration has applied this label 19 times. Shortly after the AEDPA was passed, it was used to designate Muslim terrorist organizations as FTOs, along with a few others. There was a slim justification for those designations because we were actively engaged in a “War on Terror” with troops deployed in those regions. However, there seems to be no justification for what the Trump Administration is doing with Latin American drug cartels, and this could be a legitimate reason for articles of impeachment.
The Trump Administration has not released any proof of who was on those boats or their cargo. This is critical to allowing these actions to continue. Even if the administration provides incontrovertible proof that these are cartel members transporting drugs, they must do more to justify military action. When did these cartels openly declare war on Americans? Where are the so-called terrorist actions? Have we seen Americans held hostage or beheaded? Other than some gang members crossing the southern border illegally and perpetrating gang activity in American cities (gangs do what gangs do), have they actively tried to take any cities by force? What we see are crimes in our nation, for sure—violent crimes driven by the demand for mind-altering drugs.
The United States has a deep hunger for the drugs these cartels sell. Something is wrong with our society and culture that creates this demand. No matter how many boats are destroyed, the demand will persist, and as long as there is demand, someone will meet it.
The Constitution grants the power to declare war solely to Congress. Abdicating that responsibility to the President to survive the next election cycle is cowardly. Congress must repeal these laws that transfer its power to the President. What I want will likely never happen, but it should.