According to the provisions of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 as described in the passage, if the President percei...

shunhe on July 30, 2020

Hi @gharibiannick,

Thanks for the question! So we’re being given a hypothetical here. The President perceives an international conflict warrants the immediate involvement of US armed forces. According to the War Powers Resolution of 1973, what is the President compelled to do every time?

(D) tells us that the president has to report to Congress within 48 hours of the deployment of armed forces. Well, that follows directly from lines 51-53, and that’s what supports answer choice (D).

Now you might think that (B) is true too, since right above those lines, we’re told that the President must “consult with Congress ‘in every possible instance’ before introducing forces” in lines 48-51. But notice that this differs from what (B) says in two very important ways. (B) tells us that the President has to consult with the leaders of both houses of Congress before deploying armed forces. First, consulting with Congress and consulting with the leaders of both houses of Congress could be two different things, so that’s a point where (B) and the passage diverge. And second, the passage says “in every possible instance,” which allows for instances in which it’s not possible to consult with Congress first. But the question is asking about something the president has to do “in every instance,” not “in every possible instance.” There’s an important difference here, and both of these differences are what make (B) an inferior answer to (D).

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.