In 2013, retiring senator Jim Webb had a message for Congress on foreign policy. Now that he is reportedly under consideration by President Trump to take Jim Mattis’s former job as defense secretary, his advice is well worth revisiting.
Writing the cover story for National Interest, Webb outlined how Congress had abdicated its powers to the executive branch. Webb is right, and the 116th Congress would do well to pay attention — especially those on the Left and the Right deeply critical of Trump, and now possibly Webb’s, foreign policy inclinations.
Webb begins his argument laying out the powers granted to Congress in the Constitution and the protections it offers against the “overreach of a single executive who might otherwise succumb to the impulsive temptation to unilaterally risk our country’s blood, treasure and international prestige.”
He goes on to outline how, largely since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress has changed. He explains this based on his own experiences in the military, in Congress, and with the Reagan administration.
For Congress, he ends with a clear message arguing that while seeking congressional approval may well be a difficultly for the White House or a party agenda, lawmakers play an important role in safeguarding the interests of the nation.
As he explains:
Webb also has a lesson for the president: It’s better to work with Congress than alone.
These are not new arguments. They have been made in the pages of the Washington Examiner before.
And as the U.S. faces new challenges from potential great power conflicts with Russia or China in addition to ongoing forever wars in the Middle East, they remain critically important. Weighing the trade-offs of more boots on the ground and money poured into the military in various conflicts should fall to the representatives of the people in the legislature, not solely to the man and his advisers, in the Oval Office.
Ultimately, it falls to Congress to take back its responsibility and power, as no president is likely to just hand it over.
That does, of course, mean that the heavy weight of making decisions, some of which will likely be regarded by history as errors, will again be placed on the shoulders of lawmakers. But that is what the people elected them to do.
Whether or not Trump taps Jim Webb to serve as defense secretary, both Republicans and Democrats in Congress should take his advice to heart — especially those who think he’s wrong.
