America’s War Powers Crisis | Brian Finucane

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Congress hasn't formally done so since 1942. Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer and current senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, joins Matt to make sense of how that happened — and what it means now that the United States is at war with Iran. Brian has spent years arguing, across administrations of both parties, that executive branch war-making has drifted dangerously far from its constitutional moorings. Operation Epic Fury, he contends, is the most consequential test of that argument yet. Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, global issues, and current affairs. Follow Brian on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bcfinucane.bsky.social Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-finucane-15a5652b Please share this episode using these links Audio: https://pod.fo/e/41d13c YouTube: https://youtu.be/TUYI1DqO-CA Further reading "What the Iran War Reveals About the War Powers Resolution and How Congress Can Act" by Tess Bridgeman & Brian Finucane | Just Security: https://www.justsecurity.org/137977/iran-hostilities-war-powers-restart-clock/ "On the State Department Memorandum 'Operation Epic Fury and International Law’" by Brian Finucane | Just Security: https://www.justsecurity.org/137097/state-department-epic-fury-international-law/ "An Unserious Justification for an Unnecessary War: Assessing the U.S. 'Article 51’ Letter to U.N. on Iran War" by Brian Finucane | Just Security: https://www.justsecurity.org/134290/us-article-51-letter-united-nations/ "Senate Votes to Take Up Measure to Force Trump to End Iran War" by Megan Mineiro | The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/senate-iran-war-authorization.html "Bending the Guardrails: U.S. War Powers after 7 October" by Brian Finucane | International Crisis Group: https://www.crisisgroup.org/rpt/united-states/009-bending-guardrails-us-war-powers-after-7-october Support Secrets and Spies Become a “Friend of the Podcast” on Patreon for £3/$4: https://www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies Buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/secretsandspies Subscribe to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com Connect with us on social media Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/secretsandspies.bsky.social Instagram: https://instagram.com/secretsandspies Facebook: https://facebook.com/secretsandspies Spoutible: https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Follow Chris and Matt on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/chriscarrfilm.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/mattfulton.net Secrets and Spies is produced by Films & Podcasts LTD: https://filmsandpodcasts.co.uk/ Music by Andrew R. Bird USAF photo by Staff Sgt. Sandra Welch #IranWar #USWarPowers #NationalSecurity Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.