Constitution Index · H.Con.Res. 61 · 2025-11-17
Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with presidentially designated terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere.
Latest official status (2025-12-17): Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Constitutional grade
A
Constitutional
This concurrent resolution is fully constitutional. It exercises Congress's enumerated power to declare war and regulate the armed forces under Article I, Section 8, Clauses 11–14. It does not infringe any rights under the Bill of Rights, restrict individual sovereignty, or violate due process or takings protections. The resolution appropriately maintains federal authority over military hostilities while requiring congressional authorization, consistent with the separation of powers and the War Powers Resolution.
Article I, Section 8 Article I, Section 8, Clause 11
SI-generated grade · passed automated checks (real Constitution citation, language rules) · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology · Report an error: hello@valuesforamerica.com
The five checks
Enumerated powers · passes
Congress has explicit constitutional authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 to declare war and under Clause 14 to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. The War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541–1548) is a valid exercise of that power. This concurrent resolution directs the President to remove forces from hostilities unless Congress has authorized such action, which is squarely within Congress's enumerated powers.
Bill of Rights · passes
The resolution does not restrict speech, religion, assembly, press, petition, arms, quartering, search and seizure, self-incrimination, due process, takings, trial rights, or cruel and unusual punishment. It addresses only the deployment of U.S. Armed Forces and does not implicate any provision of the first ten amendments.
Individual liberty · passes
The resolution imposes no restriction on individual liberty, property, speech, labor, or belief. It directs the President to remove military forces from hostilities, which is a government action that does not burden any individual's sovereignty. The government bears no need to justify a restriction because none exists.
Decentralization · passes
The four-question test: (1) An individual or family cannot handle hostilities with terrorist organizations—this is inherently a national security matter. (2) A local community or county cannot handle such hostilities. (3) A state cannot handle federal military forces or international hostilities. (4) The resolution does not consolidate decision-making upward; it reinforces the constitutional allocation of war powers to Congress at the federal level, which is the minimum necessary level for such action. All four questions are answered in a manner consistent with constitutional decentralization.
Due process and takings · passes
The resolution does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process, nor does it take private property for public use without just compensation. It is a directive concerning military operations and does not implicate the Fifth or Fourteenth Amendments.
Provenance
- Congress.gov: HCONRES 61 summary · fetched 2026-10-08 · official page ↗
Version history · never overwritten
| Grade | Graded | Rubric | Source hash | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A · #404 | 2026-10-09 | vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0 | b1cb4b978291 | current |
Cite this
Values for America. “Constitutional grade: H.Con.Res. 61, Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with presidentially designated terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere..” VFA Constitution Index, grade 404 (rubric vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0), graded October 9, 2026. https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution-index/grades/404. Accessed 2026-10-19.
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