Yes.
Former President Barack Obama dropped a collective 26,172 bombs on seven countries without congressional approval, relying on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which authorizes the president to use force against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as legal justification.
Without congressional declarations of war — nonoccurrences since World War II — the 1973 War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing military hostilities, which must end within 60 days barring congressional approval.
Obama continued airstrikes in Libya without approval, arguing that hostilities covered by the resolution require ground troops and other criteria.
Most presidents have used other legal underpinnings, including broad interpretations of Article II powers and AUMFs, to sidestep the resolution, which also requires consulting Congress before hostilities.
Every president since the 2001 AUMF has used it, but Obama was the first two-term president to have been at war for his entire presidency.
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Sources
- Council on Foreign Relations How Many Bombs Did the United States Drop in 2016?
- Center for Constitutional Rights CCR Refutes Administration Claim of Authority to Continue Attacks on Lybia Without Congressional Authority
- National Constitution Center Does the War Powers Resolution debate take on a new context in the Iran conflict?
- Congress.gov Structure of the War Powers Resolution
- Brown University: Watson Institute International & Public Affairs The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force: A Comprehensive Look at Where and How it Has Been Used
- CATO Institute Repeal, Don’t Replace, the AUMF
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