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On the brink of war, Congress and our representatives are nowhere to be found • Daily Montanan [1]

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Date: 2025-06-20

When government officials or agencies ignore their duties under the law and constitution it’s called nonfeasance, which is defined as: “Failure to perform an act that is an official, contractual, or professional duty. The intentional failure to perform an official duty or legal requirement.”

If you think that sounds exactly like what Congress is doing right now as our nation teeters on the edge of yet another disastrous war in the Middle East, you’d be 100% correct.

While Trump ponders dropping 30,000 pound “bunker buster” bombs on an Iranian nuclear facility, he thinks it’s cute to say: “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do. I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change, especially with war.”

Maybe some people think this is how to run a nation of 334 million Americans — and that the sole power to decide whether or not to drop bombs on other nations resides in one demented old guy in the Oval Office.

But that is not what our Constitution says. That 1789 document was written by those who had thrown off the shackles of the world’s most powerful monarchy, and boldly said in their Declaration of Independence that we govern “by the consent of the people” — not kings.

To ensure that, the founders laid out three co-equal branches of government, legislative, judicial, and executive. And when it comes to war, the Constitution is very clear. Article 1, Section 8: “Powers of Congress: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”

Montana, like every other state, has two Senators, but due to our minimal population, only two Representatives. They, not the president, have the sole power to declare war. And using our military to drop 30,000 pound bombs on nuclear facilities isn’t some administrative action reserved for the executive branch, it is going to war without the required declaration by Congress.

As Bernie Sanders, the Independent and most popular Senator in the nation, put it bluntly: “We ought to move as quickly as we can to make certain the president does not take unconstitutional action. It’s Congress that has the power to declare war, not the president unilaterally. And I hope members of Congress have the guts to do the right thing.”

Montana has two former Navy SEALS, Rep. Ryan Zinke and Sen. Tim Sheehy, as well as Air Force veteran Rep. Troy Downing, all Republicans, representing us in Congress. Yet, these tough guys with “guts and balls” remain silent — and commit nonfeasance by ignoring their Constitutional duty to ensure Congress, not the president, makes the decision to take our nation to war.

Montana’s non-veteran senator, Steve Daines, is busy supporting an amendment to sell off hundreds of millions of acres of public lands while ignoring his very real and pressing duty to vote for or against dropping bombs on 92 million Iranians.

It’s not hard to determine if the American people want another war. The latest Economist/YouGov poll is very clear that only 16% support military involvement in Iran, while a whopping 60% are opposed. Yet, Congress is shirking its duty while the president ignores and denigrates the opinion of his own Director of National Intelligence with: “I don’t care what she said.”

Once the bombs start falling, it’s too late.

So, come on you tough guys in Montana’s Congressional delegation, “cowboy up” and do your duty. The Constitution is clear, your role is clear — and nowhere does it say you get to hide behind MAGA’s skirts while our country goes to war.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2025/06/20/on-the-brink-of-war-congress-and-our-representatives-are-nowhere-to-be-found/

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