Last night one of Congress’ most reliable neocon voices, Dan Crenshaw, lost his Republican primary by double digits. Sometimes politics delivers a little accountability.
But today’s episode isn’t really about Crenshaw.
Today we take a closer look at radio host Mark Levin — the self-proclaimed “Great One” — and a viral post he made claiming the Founders did not give Congress the power to control war.
That claim isn’t just wrong.
It completely reverses what the Constitution actually says.
In this episode we walk through Levin’s argument line by line and compare it with the historical record:
• The Constitutional Convention debates
• The Federalist Papers
• James Madison’s Helvidius essays
• Early presidential practice in the Quasi-War and the War of 1812
• Supreme Court rulings on war powers
The evidence is overwhelming.
The Founders intentionally placed the power to take the nation from peace to war in the hands of Congress — not the President.
The President commands the military.
But Congress decides whether America goes to war.
That structure wasn’t accidental. The Founders understood that executives are the branch most prone to war. So they built a constitutional system designed to slow the rush to conflict and protect the liberty of the American people.
If Americans want to restore constitutional government, we have to start by reclaiming that power.
Learn more about our work:
Bring Our Troops Home
https://BringOurTroopsHome.us
Defend the Guard
https://DefendTheGuard.us
Follow Bring Our Troops Home on X
@troopshomeUS
Sources referenced in this episode
• Constitutional Convention Records — August 17, 1787 (Farrand’s Records, Vol. 2)
• Federalist No. 69 — Alexander Hamilton
• James Madison — Helvidius Essays (1793)
• Madison War Message to Congress — June 1, 1812
• Hamilton to McHenry — May 17, 1798
• McHenry to Adams — May 18, 1798
• Bas v. Tingy (1800)
• Talbot v. Seeman (1801)
• Little v. Barreme (1804)
• Tenth Amendment Center — Michael Boldin, “James Madison vs the Modern Myth of Unilateral Executive War Power”
• Tom Woods vs Mark Levin War Powers Exchange (2011)
