I know I'm chiming in late on this issue, but I wanted to do alittle more research as to the mechanics of the
War Powers Act and then try to find the "60-day letter" the President apparently delivered to Congress concerning continued involvement in Libya.
For starters as I understand the wording of the War Powers Act, per Section 1543(c), after the President has notified Congress that he has committed armed forces in support of hostilities in a foreign nation and Congress has subsequently granted him permission to do so (either by Congressional resolution or by not objecting to his actions), the President has 30 days to issue either an initial report of action to Congress or he must make a reporting not later than 6 months from the date he notified Congress of his initial force committment. Frankly, I find this reporting criteria confusing, but per my search of correspondence at
Whitehouse.gov, the President did make his initial report to Congress on or about March 20 and made a follow-up report in April. (Note: Search criteria used: "letter Libya")
The President then as 60 days to notify Congress if he believes it is warranted to retain armed forces in theater per Sect. 1544(b).
According to the President's Press Secretary, Jay Carney,
and as supported by the OP, the President notified Congress within the 60-day window according to the law. From a recent
press briefing given on May 25, 2011:
So,
for those who believe the President has violated the law, sorry to disappoint...
This takes me back to the article
in the OP. From the article:
Until I or someone else can post the letter or a link thereto, I think what we have here is speculation by the reporter because nothing in the quoted comments from the article suggests the President was even considering by-passing Congress on this matter. The very fact that the author indicates that the President notified Congress "this afternoon" (the article is dated May 20) should have clued the skeptics in.
Congress then has 24 days to act on the President's request (per Sect. 1544(b)(2)) to which it can extend armed forces involvement in theater for up to an additional 30 days from the day Congress acts on the President's 60-day notification (Sect. 1545(a)).
