A President's Lawful Authority to Respond to a Nuclear Attack

The Volokh Conspiracy ^ | Kerr | Orin

[stan_sipple]

In a recent interview with Chris Wallace, Vice President Cheney made the following claim about a President's ability to launch a counterstrike if the U.S. came under nuclear attack: The president of the United States now for 50 years is followed at all times, 24 hours a day, by a military aide carrying a football that contains the nuclear codes that he would use and be authorized to use in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. He could launch a kind of devastating attack the world's never seen. He doesn't have to check with anybody. He doesn't have to call the Congress. He doesn't have to check with the courts. He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in. Over at Slate, Dahlia Litwick calls this claim a blunt demonstration of "the Nutty Version of the Unitary Executive Theory," and describes it as Cheney's "biggest whopper of the week":

[stuartcr]

That’s how they get to make all those books and movies where the football is compromised or someone is launching a false attack.

[2harddrive]

On this, as in most else, Mr. Cheney is CORRECT.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

He could launch a kind of devastating attack the world's never seen. He doesn't have to check with anybody. He doesn't have to call the Congress. He doesn't have to check with the courts.

[BuckeyeTexan]

It’s scary to imagine how Obama may interpret his executive powers. If people think that Bush and Cheney walked all over the Constitution, wait until Obama and Biden get their grubby hands on it.

[stan_sipple]

liberals will interpret the constitution to expand or contract any branch of government that suits their immediate needs, as they have done for all branches of govt.

[jeltz25]

I believe, at least based on my Tom Clancy, that there’s actually something called the two man rule and the President needs the agreement of the VP or other Cabinet officer to launch the nukes, but he certainly doesn’t have to check with Congress or the COurts. Cheney may have simplified things a tad, but he’s pretty much on target.