Vance calls War Powers Act ‘fundamentally fake’ and unconstitutional

Vice President Vance called the War Powers Act “fundamentally fake” and unconstitutional, ridiculing the law passed in 1973 shortly after senators on Capitol Hill voted to advance a bipartisan measure to block President Trump from using military force against Venezuela. 

“Second of all, as the president, I believe himself, has already said every president, Democrat or Republican, believes the War Powers Act is fundamentally a fake and unconstitutional law,” Vance said during a White House press briefing. 

“It’s not going to change anything about how we conduct foreign policy over the next couple of weeks, the next couple of months and that will continue to be how we approach things,” the vice president told reporters. 

Earlier on Thursday, five GOP senators — Rand Paul (Ky.), the sponsor of the measure, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Todd Young (Ind.) — voted with all Democrats to advance a resolution on the War Powers Act, pushing it out of the committee and bringing it to the Senate floor. The vote tally was 52-47. 

The vote to pass the measure is expected next week in the Senate. A similar resolution did not pass the House last month, and Trump would likely veto it. 

The resolution was sponsored by Paul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

The measure would bar the Trump administration from further utilizing U.S. military force “within or against Venezuela,” and its passage comes just days after the U.S. personnel captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.  

Trump hammered the five GOP senators who voted to advance the resolution, arguing they should not be reelected and that their votes endanger national security. 

“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,” Trump said on Truth Social. 

Young said he backed the measure since he argued that Congress needs to give the president approval to deploy U.S. forces to Venezuela. 

“The President and members of his team have stated that the United States now ‘runs’ Venezuela. It is unclear if that means that an American military presence will be required to stabilize the country. I — along with what I believe to be the vast majority of Hoosiers — am not prepared to commit American troops to that mission,” Young said after Thursday’s vote.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a defense hawk and an ally of the president, like Vance, argued that the War Powers Act of 1973 is “patently unconstitutional” and said that Trump is right to be upset with the five Republican senators who voted with Democrats. 

“If a member of Congress disagrees with the Commander in Chief’s decision to use military force, then they have the right to stop funding for those operations because Congress has the power of the purse under the U.S. Constitution – or they can bring impeachment actions against the President if they think it is unlawful,” Graham said in a Thursday post on social platform X. 

“A member of Congress does not have the right to replace their judgment for that of the President who is the Commander in Chief,” Graham said. “The nation cannot function with 535 Commanders in Chief.”