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.

Official source ↗

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

Grade ID
404
Rubric version
vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0
Graded
2026-10-09 11:20 UTC
Engine
backup SI engine
Source fetched
2026-10-08 09:43 UTC
Source SHA-256
b1cb4b9782913908b5f259b62dc938ac81934cf21b793de44d6145b14ea5b5dd
Checks
si-editorial-standard/1.0: real Constitution citation, language rules

Version history · never overwritten

GradeGradedRubric Source hashStatus
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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