Senator Tim Kaine teams up with Sen. McCain to bolster the 1973 War Powers Resolution

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) appears poised to pick up where former U.S. Senator from Virginia Jim Webb left off in his efforts to curtail the powers of the U.S. President to pursue military actions without the approval of the congress.

Sen. Kaine announced on Thursday that he and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) would be teaming up to reform the 1973 War Powers Resolution that would (hopefully) open up the channels of communication between the president and the U.S. Congress specifically in regards to U.S. military actions.

In a joint statement released by Sen.’s Kaine and McCain (try saying that three times quickly), “The changing nature of armed conflict and technology are raising challenging new war powers questions that our founders never could have envisioned. We are both passionate about establishing a dialogue between the two branches of government that is clear, practical, and true to the Constitution.”

On the floor of the U.S. Senate, Kaine also laid out some interesting facts: “The United States Congress has only formally declared war five times.  In many other instances, Congress has taken steps to authorize, fund or support military action.  And in well over 100 cases, Presidents have initiated military action without prior approval from Congress.” Amen, senator, preach it!

All humor aside, though, nothing could be more serious than the gradual and largely unnoticed (at least by many Americans) shift in the powers of the president to throw thousands of American lives and untold American dollars into conflicts that the American people’s elected legislative representatives never approved. 

Whether it’s been a Republican or a Democrat in the Oval Office, presidents of varying political parties and beliefs have committed U.S. troops to military action without the consent of the U.S. Congress, a shift in political power that would have undoubtedly disturbed the wise creators of the U.S.

Our system of government has checks and balances for a reason, at least what we as Americans feel is a good reason: if political power goes unchecked, it will mushroom into a Leviathan. President Obama, to give one example, may have the best of intentions when deciding to expend military might across the globe, but as the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Ultimately,  it’s unimportant what the motives of any particular president are because even good men can make terrible decisions. That’s why we have a system in place in the U.S. to check the ambitions of any single individual. With the Kaine/McCain duo in place, that check might just get a little bit stronger than it has been in recent years.