"The lawsuit challenges what the lawmakers see as “the executive branch’s circumvention of Congress and its use of international organizations such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to authorize the use of military force abroad, in violation of the Constitution.”Doug Mataconis @ OTB notes this was tried in 1999 with Campbell v. Clinton - and failed.
“With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies,” Kucinich said in a statement announcing the suit.
A copy of the complaint is linked here.
The lawsuit is signed by a bipartisan group of members of the House, including Kucinich (D-Ohio), Jones (R-North Carolina), Howard Coble (R-North Carolina), John Duncan (R-Tennessee), Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland), John Conyers (D-Michigan) Ron Paul (R-Texas), Michael Capuano (D-Massachusetts), Tim Johnson (R-Illinois) and Dan Burton (R-Indiana)."
"In some sense the court in Campbell is right, if Congress believes the President has acted unconstitutionally, they have the power to cut off funding for the Libyan action, or even to impeach the President, if they have sufficient votes to support that action. If they don’t, I’m not at all certain that getting judges involved in this particular policy area makes any sense at all."
As the economy suffocates, the tax revenues shrink and the military fatigues, tempers will flare and words continue to grow hot on the Hill.
2012 is shaping up to be a very ugly year for 'Hope n Change.'
Update: Obama says War Powers act doesn't apply to Libya.
Updated update: autocrat chart added (click to make bigger-er).