March 21, 2003: Bush Asserts Presidential Authority to Order Troops into Battle

President Bush asserts his own authority to take the nation to war over Congress’s constitutional powers. In a letter to Congress announcing the military strikes against Iraq, Bush briefly notes Congress’s authorization for military action (see October 11, 2002), but writes that he has ordered US troops into battle “pursuant to my authority as commander in chief.” The letter is sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Senate President Pro Tempore Ted Stevens (R-AK). Bush made a similar, and similary unchallenged, assertion when he sent US troops into Afghanistan (see October 7, 2001). [Letter to congressional leaders reporting on the commencement of military operations against Iraq, 3/21/2003; Savage, 2007, pp. 158]