S10 Ep45: America’s War Powers Crisis with Brian Finucane

About this episode

Brian Finucane discusses the implications of the U.S. war powers crisis and the constitutional issues surrounding executive war-making.

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Congress hasn't formally done so since 1942. Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer and current senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, joins Matt to make sense of how that happened — and what it means now that the United States is at war with Iran. Brian has spent years arguing, across administrations of both parties, that executive branch war-making has drifted dangerously far from its constitutional moorings. Operation Epic Fury, he contends, is the most consequential test of that argument yet.Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, global issues, and current affairs.Follow Brian on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bcfinucane.bsky.socialConnect with Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-finucane-15a5652bPlease share this episode using these linksAudio: https://pod.fo/e/41d13cYouTube: https://youtu.be/TUYI1DqO-CAFurther reading"What the Iran War Reveals About the War Powers Resolution and How Congress Can Act" by Tess Bridgeman & Brian Finucane | Just Security: https://www.justsecurity.org/137977/iran-hostilities-war-powers-restart-clock/"On the State…

People in this episode

Host: Matt

Guest: Brian Finucane

Topics covered

• war powers
• U.S. Constitution
• executive branch
• Iran
• international law
• Congress
• current affairs

Keywords

• war powers
• Brian Finucane
• Iran
• Operation Epic Fury
• U.S. Constitution
• executive branch
• Congress
• international law

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: International Crisis Group, State Department

Books & works: What the Iran War Reveals About the War Powers Resolution and How Congress Can Act, On the State Department Memorandum 'Operation Epic Fury and International Law’, An Unserious Justification for an Unnecessary War: Assessing the U.S. 'Article 51’ Letter to U.N. on Iran War

Places: United States, Iran

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