[Peace-discuss] Ending Wars is Like Abolishing Unelected Superdelegates: It’s About Restoring Majority Rule

[Robert Naiman]

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159073407267656

Ending Wars is Like Abolishing Unelected Superdelegates: It’s About
Restoring Majority Rule

“Rule in England and rule in Japan. Rule in America and rule in Russia.
Then why not rule in Africa?”
- Jimmy Cliff, Majority Rule, 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1sQSHo43DQ

By law and custom, there are two political parties in the United States,
one of which is “the Democratic Party.” There are a set of policies and
procedures in place to try to ensure that the Democratic Party is not too
democratic, not too subject to Majority Rule. Arguably the most notorious
of these is the role of unelected superdelegates appointed by the
Democratic National Committee in choosing the Democratic nominee for
President. These unelected superdelegates have pulled the nomination
process towards pro-war interests in the Democratic Party, including
pro-war donors to the DNC. After the 2016 Sanders-Clinton election, in
which elected Sanders delegates believed that the role of unelected
superdelegates pulled the nomination towards Clinton, a partial reform of
unelected superdelegates reduced their role by barring them from voting on
the first ballot.

The stakes of this skewing of the Democratic presidential nomination
towards pro-war interests have been dramatically raised by the heretofore
practical evisceration of the role of Congress in deciding when we go to
war. Under Article I of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of
1973, Congress and only Congress is supposed to decide when we go to war.
But in practice Article I and the War Powers Resolution have been
disrespected. Until now no court will enforce them. President Obama defied
them in the case of the Libya war and the Saudi war in Yemen; Congress
moved belatedly to enforce them against Trump in the case of the Saudi war
in Yemen, but has still failed to enforce its will. Part of the problem is
Trump’s unprecedented defiance of Congress and part of the problem is
Congress’ unwillingness so far to use a key tool of the War Powers
Resolution to try to end unconstitutional war, the concurrent resolution.
Congress’ unwillingness to use this tool so far is thwarting Majority Rule.

The War Powers Resolution provided two key tools for Congress to stop an
unconstitutional war: a “concurrent resolution” and a “joint resolution.” A
concurrent resolution is a joint statement of the House and the Senate
which is not presented to the President for signature and which the
President therefore cannot veto. A joint resolution is presented to the
President for signature and the President can veto it. If the President
vetoes it, a two-thirds majority in each house is required to override the
President’s veto. When Congress passed the Sanders-Lee-Murphy resolution to
end unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen, it used
a joint resolution. Trump vetoed the resolution, and Congress failed to
override, and the war continues with unconstitutional U.S. participation.

The practical consequence is that it now takes a 2/3 vote in both houses to
stop an unconstitutional war, because Trump is defiant and Congress won’t
yet press its case by passing a concurrent resolution which would only
require a simple majority in each house. Thus, the majority of the
minority, the Republicans in the House and Senate who are backing
unconstitutional war, are now playing the role that unelected
superdelegates play in the Democratic presidential nomination process:
thwarting the will of the majority for less war.

Note that a two-thirds majority in each house is a higher bar than for
impeaching and removing a President [simple majority in the House, 2/3 in
the Senate] or ratifying a treaty [2/3 vote in the Senate, no vote in the
House.] It is now harder to end an unconstitutional war than it is to
remove a President or ratify a treaty. This is not the situation that the
authors of Article I of the Constitution or the War Powers Resolution of
1973 intended.

In order to eliminate the role of Republican “superdelegates” in the House
and Senate in perpetuating unconstitutional war against the will of the
majority, we need to enforce the concurrent resolution provisions of the
War Powers Resolution. House Democrats signed up for this when they
recently passed the Slotkin Iran War Powers Resolution as a concurrent
resolution. We need to make Senate Democrats sign up for this as well.
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