Proposed U.S. Constitution Amendment — The Use of Military Force

The United States was founded on the conviction that all people are endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A government that cannot defend these rights cannot preserve them. The willingness to use military force in their defense is not in conflict with those values — it is required by them.

Yet military force is the most consequential tool a government possesses. Military decisions made today shape the national security environment for decades. Those who make these decisions face immediate political pressure, but those who bear the long-term cost — future citizens, soldiers, presidents, and members of Congress — have no voice in the decision.

The Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war and grants the President command of the Armed Forces. The founders disagreed about how much discretion the executive required — but on one thing the text is silent: what constitutes war.

Consequently, since the mid-twentieth century, presidents have repeatedly initiated military force without congressional authorization, framing each action as something other than ‘war’. Since ‘war’ is never defined, that claim is not obviously wrong — and Congress, unable or unwilling to resolve the question, has at times deferred, leaving each unanswered action to harden into precedent. The available remedies — impeachment, judicial review — have proven inadequate; one requires political will that rarely exists, the other has been declined.

This is not a failure of individual character. It is what the incentives produce in an ambiguous governance structure. This amendment resolves that ambiguity by governing the use of military force, whatever name it is given. It does so according to these principles:

When an attack is imminent or underway, the President must act.
When an attack is neither imminent nor underway, Congress must decide before force is used against a foreign state.
When force is directed at an individual non-state actor, a federal court must authorize it.
If Congress doesn’t decide, funding is automatically cut off and the operation must stop.

Section 1. Defensive Authority

Section 1A. Interceptive Defense

The President, as Commander in Chief, may without prior authorization of Congress direct the Armed Forces to intercept and neutralize an armed attack upon the United States, its territories, protected citizens, its Armed Forces, or military-dependent critical infrastructure, provided that such action is limited to purely interceptive measures that do not themselves project force into foreign territory, airspace, waters, or outer space. Such authority includes missile defense, interception of attacking aircraft or vessels, and blocking or deflecting hostile cyber intrusions directed at the United States.

Section 1B. Active Defense

The President may without prior authorization of Congress initiate active defensive force — including cross-border pursuit, retaliatory strikes, preventive strikes against an imminent armed attack, and offensive cyber operations conducted in direct response to an ongoing or imminent armed attack upon the United States, its territories, protected citizens, its Armed Forces, or military-dependent critical infrastructure — subject to the following constraints:

(i) Proportionality. Force used under this section shall be objectively necessary and proportionate, based on the facts reasonably available at the time, to stop or prevent the specific armed attack at issue, and shall not be used for punishment, coercion unrelated to the attack, deterrence of unrelated future conduct, or regime change. The scope of force actually used shall be reviewed de novo by a court under Section 7D, and self-assessment of necessity by the executive branch shall receive no deference; provided that for purposes of this review, the factual predicate determination — whether an armed attack occurred or was imminent — shall be reviewed under the deference standard described in the definition of ‘armed attack’ in Section 6, and only the necessity and proportionality of the response to that predicate shall be reviewed de novo. A material violation of this subsection shall render the operation unauthorized for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B.

(ii) No escalation. No action initiated under this section shall constitute a declaration of war, authorize sustained offensive operations, or be construed as authorization to continue military operations beyond the cessation of the immediate attack. The President shall take affirmative steps to de-escalate hostilities, including, where feasible, proposing a cessation of hostilities to the opposing party. The President shall include in the report required by Section 1B(iv) a description of de-escalation measures taken or an explanation of why de-escalation was not feasible. A material violation of this subsection shall render the operation unauthorized for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B.

(iii) Duration. Any use of force initiated under this section shall not continue beyond 72 hours from the moment force is first initiated without congressional authorization, unless Congress is incapacitated as defined in Section 6. This clock is not tolled by any reporting requirement or delay. For purposes of this subsection, all uses of force against the same adversary in response to the same armed attack are treated as a single continuous operation; the 72-hour clock begins at the initiation of the first use of force and is not reset by pauses, intervals, or the characterization of subsequent engagements as new initiations.

(iv) Reporting. The President shall report to Congress within 24 hours of initiating any use of force under this section, including a description of the attack or imminent threat, the actions taken, the legal basis for each action, and any anticipated continuation of force. Any report involving force directed against a foreign state, its critical infrastructure, or space systems owned or operated by that state in response to a cyber, electromagnetic, or space-based attack shall include the basis for attribution and the confidence level of that attribution. If the President fails to submit the report required by this subsection within 24 hours, the Comptroller General shall publish to Congress and the public a notice of noncompliance within 48 hours. Such notice shall be deemed a filed action under Section 7D without requiring a separate filing by a member of Congress. The reporting deadline does not extend or modify the 72-hour authorization deadline.

Where force is authorized under this section for the protection of protected citizens present in a foreign country, such force shall be limited to the minimum operations necessary to remove those citizens from the area of danger or to directly repel the specific armed attack upon them; it shall not authorize sustained engagement with the attacking force, seizure of territory, or establishment of a no-fly zone or buffer zone.

Section 1C. High-Escalation Restrictions

Notwithstanding Sections 1A and 1B, the following actions shall require prior congressional authorization under Section 2 of this article regardless of whether they are characterized as defensive in nature:

(i) Offensive cyber operations that are designed or expected to damage the critical infrastructure of a foreign state. For purposes of this article, critical infrastructure includes at minimum power generation and distribution systems, water and wastewater systems, financial systems, and telecommunications networks. Congress may by legislation designate additional categories of critical infrastructure for purposes of this section only where the loss or sustained disruption of such category would directly and immediately impair the national defense of the United States or the continued functioning of essential civilian systems. This subsection does not prohibit offensive cyber operations conducted under Section 1B that are limited to disrupting or neutralizing the specific systems from which the ongoing attack originates, provided that such operations do not target critical infrastructure unrelated to the attack and are not reasonably expected to cause sustained disruption of foreign critical infrastructure beyond what is necessary to stop the attack. Any offensive cyber operation conducted under this exception that is directed against systems located in or operated by a foreign state or its instrumentalities shall nonetheless satisfy the attribution standard set forth in the definition of “armed attack” in Section 6. No force may be directed against systems owned, operated, or substantially controlled by a foreign state or its instrumentalities unless that attribution standard is met.

(ii) The deployment or use of autonomous or semi-autonomous weapons systems operating without direct, continuous human control in the territory, airspace, or waters of a foreign state, except for systems used solely to intercept or disable an ongoing armed attack without selecting new targets for offensive action. A system that automatically selects from among incoming hostile projectiles or platforms for the purpose of interception does not constitute target selection for offensive action within the meaning of this subsection, provided the system operates solely within the zone of imminent incoming attack and does not engage targets beyond that category.

(iii) Anti-satellite operations or the deployment or use of weapons systems in outer space, regardless of whether such actions are characterized as defensive in nature, except that the President may without prior authorization take defensive action in outer space to neutralize any foreign system or weapon — whether space-based or ground-launched — actively and directly engaged in conducting an armed attack upon United States space assets, the Armed Forces, or military-dependent critical infrastructure, or within 6 hours after the cessation of the specific engagement by that system, as determined under the cessation standards of Section 6 applied to that system’s operations rather than the broader armed attack, where the action is limited to disabling the specific system responsible for that attack. For purposes of the cessation determination under this subsection, positive confirmation from available intelligence may be based on observation of the cessation of the specific system’s operations, without requiring the 24-hour absence period otherwise applicable under Section 6. Such defensive action in outer space shall be subject to all constraints of Section 1B, including proportionality, the prohibition on escalation, the 72-hour duration limit, and the 24-hour reporting requirement. For purposes of the proportionality requirement of Section 1B(i), any action in outer space shall be assessed against the expected orbital debris and the reasonably foreseeable threat to third-party satellites and to the civilian space environment, and shall be deemed disproportionate if it is reasonably expected to create debris that poses a material risk to operational civilian, allied, or neutral satellite systems.

Section 2. Authorization of Military Force

The Armed Forces of the United States shall not initiate the use of military force against any state actor unless authorized by Congress.

Such authorization shall be required regardless of the type, scale, duration, or means of military force employed.

Every authorization of military force passed under this section shall expire three years from the date of enactment unless Congress passes a renewal by recorded vote before that date. A renewal shall not extend the authorization by more than three additional years. Each renewal requires a separate recorded vote and shall not be deemed adopted by inaction, silence, or procedural motion. If an authorization expires without timely renewal, any continued military force under that authorization shall be deemed unauthorized from the moment of expiration for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B.

No authorization of military force shall take effect unless it expressly states a maximum number of United States military personnel authorized for deployment, a geographic area of operations, a maximum duration, and a stated operational objective. An authorization that does not include all required parameters shall be deemed not to constitute a valid authorization of military force for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B, shall be returned to Congress by the President with a statement identifying the deficiencies within 10 days of passage, and force may not be initiated until a compliant authorization is enacted or a deemed-return occurs under this paragraph. If the President neither returns the authorization within 10 days nor initiates force under it, the authorization shall be deemed returned on the 11th day and the Comptroller General shall publish notice of deemed return to Congress within 24 hours. Force initiated under a returned or deemed-returned authorization shall be treated as initiated without authorization until a compliant authorization is enacted. If Congress disagrees with the President’s identification of deficiencies, each chamber may by a two-thirds recorded vote declare the authorization compliant; such declaration constitutes a compliant authorization for purposes of this article and supersedes the President’s deficiency determination.

Section 2A. Use of Force Against Non-State Actors

Military force against a non-state actor shall be governed exclusively by the following principles. Proceedings under this section constitute cases arising under this Constitution and may be heard by the courts established or designated below notwithstanding any other limitation on ex parte national security proceedings. The judicial power of the United States is vested in Article III courts to hear and decide proceedings under this section and related enforcement actions under Section 7D notwithstanding ordinary case-or-controversy objections to ex parte or interbranch proceedings.

Use of military force against a non-state armed group (an “armed group” as defined in Section 6) or organization, as distinct from a named individual, constitutes a sustained military campaign and shall require prior congressional authorization under Section 2 of this article. The warrant requirement of this section governs only the use of force against specifically named individuals.

Where an attack by a non-state actor against the United States is imminent or underway, the President may respond under the emergency authority of Section 1B of this article. No separate authorization is required for that response, except where force is directed against a specifically named citizen or national of the United States, which shall be governed by the citizen-targeting requirements of this section.

Where no attack is imminent or underway, the use of military force against any individual non-state actor — including lethal targeting — shall be permitted only upon issuance of a warrant by a federal court established under Article III of this Constitution. Congress shall by legislation establish a specialized court of Article III judges with jurisdiction to issue such warrants, with procedures appropriate to classified national security matters. Until such court is established, jurisdiction shall vest in the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. If the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ceases to exist before the specialized court is established, jurisdiction shall vest in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. No military court or tribunal shall have jurisdiction to authorize the use of force under this section.

Such a warrant may issue only upon a finding of probable cause that the named individual is actively directing or executing attacks against the United States or its Armed Forces, supported by evidence submitted by the executive branch, and that capture, criminal process, or other non-lethal means are not reasonably available in time to prevent the attack or attacks at issue. In assessing reasonable availability, the court shall consider whether an internationally coordinated arrest operation, diplomatic demand for custody, or criminal indictment with international enforcement cooperation has been attempted or refused; a determination that capture is not reasonably available primarily or substantially on the basis of operational risk or diplomatic inconvenience shall not satisfy this requirement, unless the executive demonstrates by specific and articulable evidence that international arrest cooperation was sought and refused by the relevant government. A warrant issued under this section shall expire 180 days from the date of issuance. The executive branch may apply for renewal subject to the same probable cause standard, independent advocate requirement, and reporting obligations applicable to original applications. No warrant may be renewed more than twice. After three consecutive warrant periods (540 days), the executive branch must either: (1) seek a new independent warrant based on materially new and previously unavailable evidence of conduct occurring after the expiration of the third warrant period; (2) refer the matter for criminal prosecution; (3) obtain a continuation warrant as provided in the following paragraph; or (4) terminate the operation. A continuation warrant may issue upon a showing that the continuing conduct is the same course of conduct described in the original warrant application, that no material change in the nature, scope, or direction of the threat has occurred, and that the court independently finds the original threat has not been disrupted by the preceding warrant periods. The original warrant application must have described the specific attacks or categories of attacks at issue with particularity; the court shall not deem continuation conduct to be the same course of conduct where the original application described conduct at a level of generality that would encompass unrelated subsequent actions. A continuation warrant under this paragraph may be used no more than once; following its use, the executive must either present materially new evidence of conduct occurring after the third warrant period’s expiration, refer the matter for criminal prosecution, or terminate the operation.

Every warrant application shall be opposed by an independent advocate appointed by the court, who shall have full access to the application and all supporting materials and shall argue against issuance. The advocate shall be a cleared officer of the court, independent of the executive branch, and shall not be overridden without a written finding by the issuing judge stating the specific basis for rejecting the advocate’s objection. Appointment of an independent advocate is mandatory and may not be waived by the court or the executive branch. A warrant issued without the appointment and participation of an independent advocate is void and shall not authorize any use of force. The court shall certify in each warrant issued under this section that an independent advocate was duly appointed and participated. Any member of Congress with standing under Section 7D may challenge the validity of a warrant in district court at any time. A warrant voided under this provision renders any force taken after the date of the voiding declaration unauthorized for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B; force taken before that date is not retroactively unauthorized unless the court finds the advocate defect was the product of executive bad faith.

Warrant proceedings may be conducted on a classified basis. The government or the independent advocate may appeal the issuance or denial of a warrant to a panel of three Article III judges designated by the Chief Justice. Review on appeal shall be de novo. Such appeal shall be decided within 72 hours on an expedited basis. No use of force denied by the issuing court may proceed during appeal absent a temporary emergency order issued by the appellate panel under the same substantive standard required for a warrant. The existence of a warrant, but not its contents, shall be reported to the congressional intelligence committees within 24 hours of issuance.

The court shall submit annually to the congressional intelligence committees a classified report stating the total number of warrant applications filed, the number granted, the number denied, the number in which the independent advocate’s objection was overridden, and the stated basis for each denial. This report shall be provided without exception and may not be withheld by the executive branch or the court. The reporting period for purposes of this section is each calendar year. The annual report shall be submitted by January 31 of the following year. If the annual report is not submitted by that date, the court’s authority to issue new warrants under this section is automatically suspended until the report is provided. Any warrant issued while such suspension is in effect is void and may be challenged under Section 7D by any party granted standing under that section, by any independent advocate appointed under this section, or by any person against whom force is sought or used pursuant to that warrant or such person’s cleared counsel.

The jurisdiction of the court under this article shall expire six years from the date of ratification of this article, and every six years thereafter, unless Congress reauthorizes it by recorded vote. Congress shall hold a reauthorization vote no fewer than 90 days before the expiration date. If Congress fails to act by 90 days before the expiration date, each chamber’s presiding officer shall place the reauthorization on the calendar as a matter of constitutional privilege. The court’s jurisdiction shall continue for 90 days beyond the expiration date if a reauthorization vote has been scheduled but not yet concluded. If the reauthorization vote is held during the 90-day grace period and the reauthorization fails, the court’s jurisdiction shall terminate immediately upon recording of that vote, and no new warrants may be issued after that date. Upon expiration without reauthorization, no new warrants may be issued under this section until jurisdiction is restored by Congress. A warrant validly issued before such expiration shall remain effective only until its stated expiration date and may not be renewed during the lapse.

Where the target is a citizen or national of the United States, the court shall apply heightened scrutiny and may issue a warrant only upon a finding of clear and convincing evidence, together with a finding that capture or criminal prosecution is not reasonably available in time to prevent the attack or attacks at issue. The court shall appoint cleared adversarial counsel for the targeted individual in every such proceeding, and no warrant may issue unless the court further finds in writing that no process providing the targeted individual with notice and an opportunity to be heard — including, at minimum, notice to cleared defense counsel with time to respond — is feasible without directly enabling the attack the warrant is intended to prevent, and the court has independently considered and rejected each available alternative. The court shall, to the extent consistent with national security, provide notice to such counsel. Except for strictly interceptive measures authorized under Section 1A that are limited to stopping an ongoing attack, force against a specifically named citizen or national of the United States shall require authorization under this section. This provision does not restrict the President’s authority under Section 1A to conduct such strictly interceptive measures.

Membership in, affiliation with, or association with any organization shall not, standing alone without individualized evidence that the specific individual is actively directing or executing attacks against the United States as required by the warrant standard of this section, constitute grounds for the use of military force against an individual. Force may only be directed against specific named individuals meeting the standard above.

An authorization under Section 2 for force against a non-state armed group does not eliminate the warrant requirement for lethal force directed at a specifically identified named individual outside an active armed engagement with United States forces. Where United States forces are in active armed engagement with combatants of the authorized group, the warrant requirement does not apply to force used in direct response to that engagement.

Any use of force for which a warrant is required by this section and for which no valid warrant exists shall be deemed unauthorized immediately for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B, except as provided in the timely-renewal stay set forth in this paragraph. Where the warrant has lapsed and the executive files a renewal warrant application within 72 hours of expiration, Section 7A’s vote requirement is stayed until the court issues its ruling on renewal, and the funding cutoff of Section 7B shall not apply during that stay where the filing was timely. During that stay period, the prior warrant remains conditionally effective only for continuation of operations within its previously authorized operational scope. The court shall issue a ruling on any renewal warrant application within 14 days of filing. If no ruling is issued within 14 days, the stay expires and the Section 7A 72-hour vote clock begins from the 15th day. Force may continue under the prior warrant’s operational scope pending the court’s ruling until that deadline. If the court denies renewal, operations shall terminate immediately and Section 7A’s 72-hour vote clock shall begin from the date of denial.

The use of military force against a foreign state that harbors, directs, or materially supports a non-state actor responsible for attacks against the United States shall be governed by Section 2 of this article and shall require prior congressional authorization.

The use of military force against any non-state actor operating under the direction, command, or operational control of a foreign state shall likewise be governed by Section 2 of this article and treated as force against that foreign state, regardless of whether the actor itself meets the definition of a state actor under Section 6.

Section 3. Deployment Into Foreign Territory

The President shall not deploy the Armed Forces of the United States into any foreign territory, airspace, waters, or outer space unless such deployment is authorized by Congress, governed by a treaty that was approved by Congress as provided in Section 4, or governed by a treaty preserved by the savings clause of Section 4.

This section shall not prohibit routine peacetime deployments, training exercises, logistical operations, or other activities not reasonably expected to involve the use of military force as defined in Section 6 or treated as a use of force under Section 5 of this article, provided that such activities are conducted pursuant to a treaty or status of forces agreement that was approved by Congress. No executive agreement, memorandum of understanding, or other arrangement entered into without congressional approval shall satisfy this requirement. This carveout does not apply to deployments into areas of ongoing hostilities or where armed engagement is reasonably foreseeable at the time of deployment.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, any deployment that results in the presence of more than 10,000 United States military personnel within a single theater of operations, as defined in Section 6 of this article, within any 90-day period shall require affirmative congressional authorization under Section 2 of this article, regardless of how the deployment is characterized and regardless of whether it is conducted pursuant to an approved treaty or status of forces agreement. The President shall report to Congress within 24 hours when cumulative deployments in any theater reach 7,500 personnel within the preceding 90-day period, and again within 24 hours when 10,000 personnel are reached. Failure to file the 7,500-personnel notice shall be treated as a failure to report under Section 1B(iv) and shall trigger the Comptroller General’s notice duty under that subsection.

Any congressional authorization for deployment shall be limited to the scope, scale, duration, maximum personnel, geographic area of operations, and operational objectives expressly specified in the authorization. Expansion of a deployment beyond those parameters — including increases in personnel, geographic area of operations, objectives, or duration — shall require a new authorization and shall not be authorized by the original authorization. Any material increase in combat tempo, mission set, or operational intensity beyond what was presented to Congress in support of the original authorization shall likewise require a new authorization even if stated maxima have not yet been exceeded. The President shall report any such expansion to Congress within 24 hours of its initiation. Forces operating outside the scope of their authorization shall terminate automatically 72 hours after the expansion begins unless Congress passes a new authorization within that period. If the timing of the expansion is disputed, the earliest documented operational order, movement, or engagement establishing the expansion shall govern. The filing of a Section 7D action to resolve a disputed expansion start time shall toll the 72-hour termination clock until the court issues a ruling on the start-time question, but not on any other issue, and in no case may such tolling exceed 48 hours.

The presence of United States military personnel in a foreign country under the basing or access arrangements of a third-party nation or coalition partner shall not exempt such personnel from the requirements of this section. Authorization under this section must independently authorize the presence of United States forces, regardless of what arrangements govern the forces of other nations.

The President may deploy the Armed Forces without prior congressional authorization into foreign territory to secure weapons of mass destruction that pose an imminent risk of acquisition by a hostile actor, subject to the reporting and duration requirements of Section 1B and the mandatory-vote requirements of Section 7A. Such deployment shall not exceed 72 hours without congressional authorization. The President shall include in the report required by Section 1B(iv) the factual basis for concluding that the risk of acquisition is imminent and that the actor is hostile within the meaning of Section 6.

Where weapons of mass destruction are present in a territory with no functioning governmental authority capable of securing them, and there is specific and credible evidence of a serious and near-term risk of acquisition by any armed group regardless of whether that group meets the definition of hostile actor, the President may deploy the Armed Forces for no more than 72 hours to secure or destroy such weapons, subject to the mandatory-vote requirements of Section 7A and the reporting requirements of Section 1B(iv), provided that the required report shall describe the factual basis for concluding that a serious and near-term risk of acquisition exists and identify the armed group or groups believed to pose that risk.

This section does not restrict the transit of United States Armed Forces through international waters or international airspace in the exercise of freedom of navigation under customary international law.

Section 4. Military Treaties and Commitments

No treaty, agreement, or other international commitment that obligates or authorizes the United States to provide military force in defense of another nation, or that establishes a mutual defense commitment under which the United States may be expected to use force, shall be valid unless approved by a recorded vote of both chambers of Congress.

Congressional approval of such a treaty shall permit the initial use of military force for no more than 72 hours in any distinct armed conflict where such force is taken in the direct fulfillment of a treaty commitment as defined in Section 6, whether that commitment is framed as mandatory or discretionary. Upon the first use of force by the United States in any such conflict, each chamber of Congress shall hold a recorded vote within 72 hours confirming that the conflict falls within the treaty obligation invoked. Pending that confirmation, force may continue only for the remainder of that 72-hour period and only to the extent strictly necessary to maintain or complete the direct fulfillment operation that triggered treaty reliance. If both chambers so confirm, that confirmation shall constitute authorization of military force under Section 2 for that conflict, and such authorization shall remain valid for as long as the treaty remains in force and the conflict remains within the scope of the treaty obligation invoked, and shall not be subject to the three-year sunset or renewal requirements of Section 2. Whether the conflict remains within the scope of the treaty obligation is subject to review by both chambers, each acting by recorded majority vote, which may together determine that the conflict has exceeded treaty scope, at which point the authorization expires and Section 2’s requirements apply to any continued operations; this determination by both chambers is effective as a constitutional act notwithstanding any requirement of bicameralism or presentment otherwise applicable under this Constitution. If the two chambers disagree as to whether the conflict remains within treaty scope, either chamber may by majority vote refer the question to a federal court for resolution under Section 7D within 30 days of the date on which the other chamber’s scope determination was recorded, or, if only one chamber has made a scope determination, within 30 days of that determination. Such authorization shall be subject to mandatory review by recorded vote of both chambers every six years from the date of the initial confirmation vote, or from the date of the first recorded vote authorizing force under Section 2 in connection with that treaty and conflict if no confirmation vote was held, at which time Congress may by majority vote terminate, modify, or continue the authorization. Force taken beyond the scope of the treaty obligation shall remain subject to the independent authorization requirements of Section 2, including the three-year sunset.

If a treaty providing the basis for a treaty-derived authorization is terminated, suspended, or withdrawn from while military operations conducted under that authorization are ongoing, those operations shall lose their authorization upon the legal effective date of termination. The 72-hour mandatory vote requirement of Section 7A shall begin upon that legal effective date. The President shall notify Congress of pending treaty termination no fewer than 30 days before that date; failure to provide such notice constitutes a violation enforceable under Section 7D and does not alter the start of the 72-hour clock. Congress must vote to authorize the continuation of such operations under Section 2 within 72 hours of the clock beginning or the operations shall terminate automatically.

This section modifies the treaty-making process of Article II, Section 2 solely with respect to treaties that obligate the United States to provide military force.

Treaties, agreements, or commitments ratified or entered into before the ratification of this article that were approved by the United States Senate under Article II, Section 2 of this Constitution remain valid and are preserved by this section, subject only to the requirement that any extension, amendment, or replacement of such treaties after ratification of this article shall comply with this section.

Section 5. Scope

For the purposes of this article, the term Armed Forces includes all branches of the United States military and any military asset, including but not limited to ground forces, naval forces, aircraft, unmanned systems, cyber capabilities, space-based systems, special operations forces, and any other instrument of military force under the authority of the United States.

This article applies to all uses of force by the United States, including those conducted through intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, or any other executive instrumentality engaged in military, paramilitary, or covert operations, regardless of whether such actions are formally designated as military in nature. No executive designation or classification shall exempt an action from the requirements of this article.

For purposes of this article, a use of force by the United States includes any military operation conducted by a foreign nation or non-state actor in which United States personnel select or approve targets, provide intelligence used or intended for use in the selection of targets or the timing of strikes, or exercise operational direction over the conduct of the operation, regardless of which nation or entity executes the action.

The provision of training, advisory support, intelligence support, logistical support, or other mission-enabling assistance to foreign military forces shall constitute a use of force by the United States for purposes of this article where such support is designed and delivered specifically for a named operation or campaign, is otherwise intended to facilitate a specific strike, raid, or sequence of attacks, or is reasonably foreseeable at the time provided to materially enable such a specific strike, raid, or sequence of attacks, rather than for general military capacity-building. The provision of embedded advisors who accompany foreign forces during active combat operations, or the delivery of training immediately preparatory to a specific planned operation, shall be presumed to constitute a use of force under this article. General military education, professional development programs, and capacity-building assistance not tied to a specific operation or campaign shall not constitute a use of force under this article.

The transfer of weapons, munitions, military equipment, or services to any foreign nation or entity for use in an ongoing armed conflict shall require prior notification to Congress. If such transfer is designed, intended, or, at the time of transfer, reasonably foreseeable as likely to enable military operations that would require authorization under Section 2 if conducted by the United States, or to continue military force that would itself be prohibited under this article, the transfer shall require affirmative congressional authorization and shall be subject to the prohibition in Section 7B. Any transfer requiring affirmative congressional authorization under this paragraph may not commence absent a prior recorded vote of authorization, and any such transfer commenced without that authorization is deemed unauthorized immediately for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B. This standard is applied prospectively at the time of transfer and is not affected by subsequent characterizations of the recipient’s intent. Failure to provide required prior notification shall be reported by the Inspector General of the relevant department to Congress within 48 hours of discovery and shall constitute a violation of Section 7B if the transfer also requires affirmative congressional authorization under this section.

Section 6. Definitions

For the purposes of this article:

“Protected citizens” means citizens or nationals of the United States physically present within the fifty states, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States; within the premises of any United States embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission; or aboard any vessel or aircraft registered under the laws of the United States. Citizens or nationals present in foreign locations not covered by the foregoing shall be considered protected citizens for purposes of Sections 1A and 1B only when they are the direct target of an organized armed attack attributable to a foreign state or organized armed group. Criminal violence, civil unrest, or attacks not attributable to a state or organized armed group do not constitute an armed attack on protected citizens for purposes of this article.

“Military force” means any kinetic, cyber, electromagnetic, or space-based use of force, any use of force conducted through a foreign nation or non-state actor to the extent such activity constitutes a use of force under Section 5 of this article, or any other coercive application of military power, as well as any deployment, support, or operational activity treated as a use of force under Section 5 of this article.

“Non-state actor” means any individual, armed group, organization, or entity that is not a state actor within the meaning of this article. Where classification is disputed, uncertain, or subject to material factual doubt, the requirements applicable to state actors under Section 2 shall apply unless an Article III court determines otherwise on a written record.

“Imminent attack” means a threatened attack for which there is specific, credible, and contemporaneous evidence that a state actor or non-state actor has made a definitive decision to attack and is actively taking preparatory steps toward execution, leaving no reasonable opportunity for non-military intervention. A general or speculative threat of possible future attack does not constitute an imminent attack. The term “imminent armed attack” as used in this article means an imminent attack that, if executed, would constitute an armed attack within the meaning of this section.

“Armed attack” means the use of kinetic, cyber, electromagnetic, or other force against the United States, its territories, protected citizens, its Armed Forces, military-dependent critical infrastructure, or United States space assets that causes or is calculated to cause death, physical destruction, or the sustained disruption of critical infrastructure or military operations. For purposes of this article, sustained disruption means a disruption that has continued, or is reasonably expected to continue, for more than 24 hours absent prompt mitigation. An armed attack may be conducted by any means, including conventional weapons, cyber operations, directed-energy systems, or anti-satellite systems. For purposes of Sections 1A and 1B, the President’s determination that an armed attack has occurred or is imminent shall be based on information available at the time of the decision. Such determination shall be subject to judicial review under Section 7D but shall be afforded deference as to facts known to the President at the time of action. Where force is directed against a foreign state or its critical infrastructure in response to a cyber, electromagnetic, or space-based attack, attribution to that state must be supported by high-confidence evidence disclosed to Congress.

“Critical infrastructure” means power generation and distribution systems, water and wastewater systems, financial systems, and telecommunications networks, as well as any additional category designated by Congress pursuant to Section 1C of this article.

“Interceptive defense” means action taken to intercept, block, or neutralize an incoming attack without projecting force into foreign territory, airspace, waters, or outer space. Actions that destroy, disable, or degrade assets or infrastructure located in foreign territory or outer space are not interceptive defense.

“Active defensive force” means force projected beyond the territory of the United States, including cross-border pursuit, retaliatory strikes, and offensive cyber operations, taken in direct response to an ongoing, imminent, or recently concluded armed attack, provided that any retaliatory strike for which the execution order has not been issued may not be initiated more than 24 hours after the cessation of the specific armed attack and in no case beyond the 72-hour window established by Section 1B(iii). Active defensive force is limited to what is necessary and proportionate to halt or prevent the specific attack and does not authorize sustained offensive operations, regime change, or objectives beyond the cessation of the immediate attack.

“Military-dependent critical infrastructure” means privately-owned or operated systems and assets formally designated by Act of Congress as essential to the operational capability of the Armed Forces of the United States, including communications networks, satellite systems, positioning and navigation systems, and logistics infrastructure upon which the Armed Forces are operationally dependent. No such designation shall be made by executive action alone. Designations shall be subject to periodic congressional review and reauthorization and shall be limited to systems whose loss would directly and immediately impair military operations. Each designation shall expire six years from the date of its enactment unless Congress reauthorizes it by recorded vote. A designation that expires without reauthorization shall cease to qualify as military-dependent critical infrastructure for purposes of this article until re-designated by Act of Congress.

“Hostile actor” means a state actor or non-state actor that the President has specific and articulable grounds to believe intends to acquire, use, transfer, or enable the use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States, its Armed Forces, or protected citizens.

“High-confidence evidence” means corroborated intelligence or other evidence from multiple independent sources sufficient to make attribution to the identified actor substantially more likely than any reasonable alternative attribution.

“Imminent risk of acquisition” means a circumstance in which there is specific, credible, and contemporaneous evidence that a hostile actor is likely to obtain possession, custody, or practical control of a weapon of mass destruction within a period too short to permit prior congressional authorization.

“Congressional incapacitation” means a circumstance in which Congress is rendered unable to convene a quorum by any means — physical or electronic — due to an attack on the United States, a catastrophic natural disaster, or other sudden catastrophic event that directly and physically prevents members from assembling either in person or by any electronic means, notwithstanding all reasonable efforts, for a period of more than 24 consecutive hours. During Congressional incapacitation, the President may initiate or continue military force without prior Congressional authorization, provided that the President notifies available Congressional leadership within twenty-four hours of initiating such action. The authorization requirement is not waived during incapacitation — it is suspended. For purposes of this article, Congress may convene and conduct a vote by any means, including secure electronic communication, that permits verification of each member’s identity and vote. Upon the restoration of the ability to convene a quorum by any means, a new 72-hour period shall begin running from the moment the ability to convene a quorum is restored. Force that cannot be authorized within 72 hours of quorum restoration shall terminate automatically under Section 7A.

“Theater of operations” means any contiguous geographic region in which United States forces are deployed, or any set of deployments — whether contiguous or not — conducted in furtherance of a common operational objective. Where both definitions could apply, the definition that produces the larger aggregate personnel count shall govern. The executive branch shall not subdivide a contiguous region, assign artificially narrow objectives, or separate a unified operational objective into distinct theaters for the purpose of keeping personnel counts below the threshold established in Section 3.

“State actor” means any foreign state or any entity that maintains a military force under centralized command, exercises effective governmental control over a defined territory, and performs governmental functions over a resident population, regardless of whether such entity is recognized by the United States or admitted to the United Nations. Where the classification of an entity as a state actor or non-state actor is disputed or uncertain, the requirements applicable to state actors under Section 2 shall apply. The executive branch may not unilaterally classify or reclassify an entity from state actor to non-state actor for the purpose of avoiding the authorization requirements of Section 2.

“Direct, continuous human control” means a human operator makes each individual engagement decision — including target identification, selection, and authorization to fire — in real time, and retains the ability to abort at any point before the application of force.

“Operational direction” means the exercise of command, control, or decision-making authority over the planning, targeting, or execution of a military operation, as distinguished from the provision of general advice, policy guidance, or institutional capacity-building.

“Materially supports” means knowingly providing substantial financing, arms, intelligence, logistics, safe haven, command-and-control assistance, or other aid that materially enables the specific attack or attacks at issue.

“Approved by Congress” means approved by a recorded vote of both chambers of Congress.

“Material violation” means a use of force that, in scope, scale, target, or method, meaningfully and demonstrably exceeds the authority granted or the constraint imposed, as determined by reference to the objective record, and shall not require proof of intent.

“Space assets” means any satellite, orbital platform, or space-based system owned or operated by the United States, its military, or its government agencies, regardless of whether formally designated as military-dependent critical infrastructure.

“Sustained military campaign” means any series of two or more military operations against the same non-state armed group conducted over any period, or any single operation that exceeds 72 hours or involves forces deployed to foreign territory for more than 72 hours, regardless of how characterized.

“Weapons of mass destruction” means nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological weapons or devices capable of mass casualties, including complete devices, assembled delivery systems, and functional precursor components ready for immediate weaponization.

“Serious and near-term risk of acquisition” means a circumstance in which there is specific and credible evidence that acquisition by an armed group is likely within 30 days absent intervention, but where evidence adequate to support a finding of imminent risk of acquisition under this section is not available due to the absence of a functional governing authority or attributable hostile actor.

“Cessation of an armed attack” means the point at which the specific hostile actor has materially stopped applying force directed at the attacked party, as indicated by the absence of new attacks for a continuous period of 24 hours or by positive confirmation from available intelligence, whichever is earlier. A pause or lull in an otherwise ongoing campaign does not constitute cessation unless accompanied by a positive action, statement, or sustained operational withdrawal by the attacking party.

“Armed group” means an organized non-state entity of two or more individuals who possess weapons, act in concert for a common purpose, and are capable of conducting sustained armed operations or repeated attacks against the United States, its Armed Forces, or protected citizens.

“Organization” means any structured non-state entity, whether armed or unarmed, that coordinates personnel or resources for a common operational purpose.

“Essential civilian systems” means systems whose sustained loss or disruption would likely cause mass civilian casualties, nationwide collapse of indispensable health or safety functions, or immediate and severe nationwide breakdown of food, water, or emergency medical access.

“Specific engagement by that system” means a discrete sequence of hostile actions by an identified foreign system or weapon directed at the same attacked party, beginning with the first objectively documented hostile act and ending with the last objectively documented hostile act in that sequence.

“Distinct armed conflict” means hostilities involving the same principal adversary and substantially the same triggering attack or triggering event, treated as continuous unless there is a material break in hostilities and a new triggering attack or event.

“Direct fulfillment of a treaty commitment” means the use of military force — including kinetic, cyber, space-based, or combined-arms operations — in response to the specific armed attack or conflict that triggered the treaty commitment, as distinguished from background support, training, or pre-positioned forces not initiated in response to that specific event.

Section 7. Enforcement

Section 7A. Mandatory Vote

Upon the initiation of any military force for which prior authorization is required by this article, upon the continuation beyond 72 hours of force initiated under Section 1B, upon the initiation of any use of force prohibited without authorization by Section 1C, upon the initiation of any retaliatory strike against a foreign state under Section 1B whether or not such strike ceases before 72 hours, upon any use of force rendered unauthorized by a material violation of Section 1B(i) or Section 1B(ii), upon the use of force without a warrant required by Section 2A, upon expansion of an existing authorization beyond its authorized scope as prohibited by Section 3, upon initiation or continuation of a deployment under either emergency weapons-of-mass-destruction deployment paragraph of Section 3, upon initiation of force under the temporary treaty authority described in Section 4 pending confirmation, or upon initiation of any transfer deemed unauthorized under the paragraph of Section 5 governing transfers in ongoing armed conflict, Congress shall hold a recorded vote on authorization within 72 hours of initiation, continuation, violation, warrant lapse, expansion, or other triggering event. This requirement may not be waived, tabled, or deferred by any rule, order, or act of either chamber. Whenever a vote is required under this section or under Section 4, each chamber shall reconvene within 24 hours by physical or secure electronic means unless Congress is incapacitated as defined in Section 6. If neither chamber has scheduled a vote within 48 hours of the initiation of the military force or triggering event that gave rise to the vote requirement, any member may bring the question directly to the floor as a matter of constitutional privilege, and such motion shall be in order notwithstanding any rule, order, or standing practice of either chamber. Failure of the presiding officer to recognize such a motion by the end of the 48th hour shall be deemed a failure to schedule the vote. The tabling, laying on the table, referral to committee, or other procedural disposition of a motion brought pursuant to this paragraph without a direct vote on authorization shall be deemed a failure to hold the required recorded vote for purposes of this section, and the 72-hour deadline shall be deemed unmet upon such disposition. For force initiated under Section 1B or in violation of Section 2, receipt of the President’s report is not a prerequisite for this deadline to begin running. For scope expansions under Section 3, the 72-hour clock begins when the expansion begins. Where a Section 7D action is filed solely to resolve a disputed expansion start time under Section 3, both the vote clock under this section and the termination clock under Section 3 are tolled until the court issues its ruling on that start-time question, and in no case may such tolling exceed 48 hours. The 72-hour period established by this section is suspended only during Congressional incapacitation as defined in Section 6, except as expressly provided in the preceding sentence, and is not otherwise suspended by recess, adjournment, or delay in receiving a report. The vote requirement triggered by a warrant lapse under Section 2A is stayed upon timely filing of a renewal warrant application as provided in Section 2A; the 72-hour clock resumes from the date of any court denial of that application or upon expiration of the stay as provided in Section 2A, whichever is earlier. A material violation of Section 1B(i) or Section 1B(ii) triggers the 72-hour vote clock from the moment the violation occurs. Any federal court pursuant to Section 7D or the Comptroller General upon review of the President’s required report or, where no report has been submitted within 72 hours of force initiation, based on publicly available information, official statements, or information provided by any member of Congress or Inspector General, may determine and declare the occurrence and timing of such violation for enforcement purposes.

If Congress fails to hold a recorded vote within 72 hours, or if it holds a recorded vote that declines to authorize such force, all such military force shall terminate automatically: upon expiration of the 72-hour deadline in the former case, and upon the recording of the vote in the latter. For force initiated under the temporary treaty authority in Section 4, failure of both chambers to record the required treaty-scope confirmation within 72 hours is deemed a failure to authorize force under this section and triggers immediate termination at the deadline. No appropriated funds shall be obligated or expended to continue such force after that deadline absent a recorded vote of authorization. This termination shall be self-executing and shall not require further legislative or judicial action to take effect. Upon self-executing termination under this section, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the relevant combatant commanders shall immediately issue orders to cease the unauthorized operations. Issuance of such orders is a constitutional duty, and failure to issue them within one hour of the termination moment shall be reported by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to Congress within 24 hours.

Each member of Congress shall cast a recorded vote of yes or no. Failure to cast a recorded vote shall be counted as a vote against authorization for purposes of determining whether the authorization has passed, and shall be recorded as such in the permanent record maintained under Section 7C.

Section 7B. Automatic Funding Cutoff

No funds appropriated, transferred, reprogrammed, or otherwise made available to any department or agency of the United States shall be obligated, expended, disbursed, performed, or executed in furtherance of any military force subject to this article beyond the applicable authorization deadline. This prohibition applies to all funds, contracts, orders, drawdowns, in-kind support, and obligations regardless of source, account, or fiscal year, whether incurred before or after the deadline, and notwithstanding any other statutory provision of law or appropriation. Nothing in this section shall be construed to override any other requirement imposed by this Constitution.

No security assistance, foreign military financing, or transfer of equipment, materiel, or services to any foreign nation or entity shall be used to continue or support military force that would itself be prohibited under this article. The Inspector General of each relevant department shall, within 90 days of any security assistance transfer made during or immediately preceding an armed conflict, certify to Congress that available information does not indicate the transferred assistance is being used to continue force prohibited under this article. Inability to provide such certification shall be reported to Congress as a potential Section 7B violation.

Any officer of the United States who knowingly obligates, expends, disburses, performs, or executes funds, contracts, orders, drawdowns, or support in violation of this section shall be removed from any appointive office held, shall be ineligible for future federal appointment, and shall be subject to such additional penalties as Congress may establish by law; provided that Congress shall at all times maintain no lesser penalty for violations of this section. Such officer shall be reported by the relevant Inspector General to Congress within 72 hours of discovery. Upon such report, the Inspector General shall file an action under Section 7D for summary confirmation of the violation and remedy, and mandatory removal under this provision takes effect immediately upon judicial confirmation. If the relevant Inspector General has been removed, has not been confirmed, or has not reported within 30 days of a publicly documented potential violation, the Comptroller General shall act as the reporting body under this subsection and shall file the corresponding Section 7D action.

Section 7C. Public Accountability

The Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate shall maintain a permanent public record of every vote, abstention, and failure to vote on any authorization required under this article. Failure of either chamber to hold a required recorded vote by the applicable constitutional deadline shall be recorded as a chamber-level denial of authorization and entered in that permanent record within 24 hours of the missed deadline. This record shall be updated within 24 hours of any such vote or deadline.

For any member of Congress who failed to cast a recorded vote on an authorization required by this article, that fact shall be included in the publicly accessible electronic database required by this section in a standardized entry stating: “[Member name] did not cast a recorded vote on the authorization of military force on [date].”

No member of Congress may expunge, seal, or otherwise cause the removal of such a record. The Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate shall maintain a publicly accessible electronic database containing the records required by this section, and shall make such database available for free public access.

Section 7D. Judicial Review

Any group of twenty members of the House of Representatives, any group of five Senators, any Senator or Representative acting individually on the basis of a failure to schedule a vote to which they are entitled under Section 7A, the Comptroller General acting pursuant to this article, or any Inspector General charged with reporting a violation under Section 7B shall have standing to bring an action in federal court to enforce the requirements of this article. Upon the filing of such an action, the court shall issue a ruling within 48 hours and may grant declaratory, injunctive, mandamus, contempt, and other appropriate relief necessary to enforce this article. If the court fails to issue a ruling within 48 hours, the military force at issue shall be presumed unauthorized for purposes of Sections 7A and 7B until a ruling is issued. The political question doctrine shall not be construed to deprive any federal court of jurisdiction to enforce the requirements of this article. The standing granted by this section constitutes a constitutionally conferred right of action enforceable in federal court and satisfies the case-or-controversy requirement of Article III of this Constitution. No court may decline jurisdiction over a claim brought under this section on the ground that the injury alleged is shared by other members of Congress or is of an institutional rather than personal character.

Section 7E. Presidential Accountability

The initiation of military force in violation of this article shall constitute a high crime and misdemeanor for purposes of Article II, Section 4 of this Constitution. No characterization of the action as necessary, defensive, or in the national interest shall affect this determination.

Congress shall have the power to establish by legislation criminal penalties applicable to any person, including any former President, who initiates or orders military force in violation of this article. No claim of presidential immunity, executive privilege, or official act shall bar the investigation, indictment, or prosecution of a former President for such violations. Such legislation may provide for prosecution to commence only after the person has left office.

Any former President convicted of initiating military force in violation of this article shall be ineligible to receive any federal funds, resources, or designation in connection with a presidential library, museum, or archival facility under any federal statute or program.

Section 7F. Legislative Authority

Congress shall have the power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, provided that no such legislation shall dilute, delay, or condition the self-executing requirements of Sections 7A and 7B.

Section 8. Transition

All existing deployments of United States Armed Forces in foreign territory, airspace, or waters that are not governed by a congressionally approved treaty or status of forces agreement shall be brought into compliance with this article within one year of its ratification. Within 90 days of ratification, the President shall submit to Congress a complete accounting of all such deployments, including the legal authority under which each is conducted, the number of personnel involved, and the countries in which they are present. Such accounting may include a classified annex where necessary, but no deployment may be omitted on the ground that it is classified. If the President fails to submit this accounting within 90 days, all deployments not governed by a congressionally approved treaty or status of forces agreement shall terminate automatically on the 91st day. Congress shall act to authorize, approve a governing treaty or agreement, or terminate each disclosed deployment within the one-year period. Any deployment not so addressed shall terminate automatically upon expiration of the one-year period.

No existing executive agreement, memorandum of understanding, or bilateral arrangement shall be construed to satisfy the congressional approval requirements of this article after the expiration of the one-year transition period.

All authorizations for the use of military force enacted prior to the ratification of this article shall remain valid for one year from the date of ratification. During that period, Congress shall pass new authorizations under the framework of this article for any operations it wishes to continue. Any prior authorization not so renewed shall expire automatically upon the conclusion of the one-year period, and all military force conducted under such authorization shall terminate. Each renewed authorization shall be subject to the sunset and renewal requirements of Section 2 of this article from the date of its passage.

Any treaty, agreement, or other international commitment that was validly ratified before the ratification of this article and is preserved by Section 4 of this article shall remain in force as provided by that section without the one-year limitation otherwise applicable in this section.

Notwithstanding the one-year validity period for prior authorizations in the preceding paragraph, all ongoing operations involving the use of force against individual non-state actors — including targeted lethal operations not governed by a valid congressional authorization — that were initiated before the ratification of this article shall be brought into compliance with the warrant requirements of Section 2A within 90 days of ratification. The executive branch shall within that period seek and obtain a warrant from the appropriate court under Section 2A for each individual targeting operation it intends to continue. Any such operation for which a warrant has not been issued within 90 days shall be treated as unauthorized under Section 2A upon expiration of that period and shall be subject to the mandatory vote, funding cutoff, and accountability provisions of Section 7 of this article.