This piece of news can surprise citizens of many countries. The US Congress intends to significantly restrict the powers of the American President. Someone may wonder how the Congress, the Parliament, or someone else, including the people, can limit the presidential powers. It seems impossible! It turns out that it is very much possible, especially for the people.
If the President's decisions are considered dangerous for the USA, it is Congress that stands up for the country's interests. Some members of Congress are alarmed that President Donald Trump has delegated the decision to set troop levels in Afghanistan to his defense secretary, James Mattis. Lawmakers are sure that escalating military action in Syria underscores the need for the US Congress to reassert its constitutional right to authorize war. "With this President quietly delegating authorities to the secretary of defense and commanders of the field, I think it's critical that this committee and the Congress as a whole embrace our oversight duties," Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said. He is right as such globally important decisions should not be made by one person, especially if we speak about civilized countries.
However, at the moment Congress is practically limited in its authorities as the balance of war-making powers has markedly shifted toward the Executive Branch under both the Obama and Trump administrations. For example, Congress has some obstacles to passing legislation that could sanction the use of force against ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in some countries) or the Assad regime in Syria.
