Why is the Senate able to declare war?

Youre answers are neither funny or helpful.

Darn, here I am googling all over the place, this is what I get for listening to my friend lol.

Isn’t it Congress the one that can declare it?

Yep :S

i googled through 21 pages, he lied.

I’ve been googling it all day, got sick and fa’d it lol… Turns out I was entirely wrong, thanks Irene :)

Oh, lord. Economics was not my forte. :D

The senate can propose it but they need the other branches to agree.

i believe that it is the congress that can declare war and in certain circumstances, such as 9/11, the president is able to call war for a certain number of days…i think he can call war for 90 days and then he has to get permission from congress to stay at war.

i believe its actually 1 full year.

before congress has to vote on it or declare war

all i remember is that there is a time period on it so you may be correct

The Senate does have other special powers, though. For example, they approve treaties and the President’s Supreme Court justice appointments. The American founding fathers believed the Senate would be the wiser of the two houses of Congress, more moderate and less likely to bring about significant change, which would allow them to balance out the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives has two-year terms, and are elected directly by the people. The Senate, at the time, was seen as the house that would be composed of the upper class, intellectuals and landed aristocracy, whose six-year terms would make them less obsessed with proposing radical changes to get reelected and more interested in preserving the status quo. Historically, the US Senate has opposed radical change, and has usually been harder for the President to sway.

irene… loosen up for gods sakes, gosh i mean you dont gotta sit there and shun me for being a bit goofy… and you know nothing of me or how serious i can really be.

The president is in charge of the military, but only Congress is allowed to declare war. It’s part of checks and balances, so that the president doesn’t have too much control over everything.