Bill
S.J.Res. 83 (119th): A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities that have not been authorized by Congress.
A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities that have not been authorized by Congress.
Summary
Recorded summary
Joint resolution directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities that Congress has not authorized. It states that Congress has the sole constitutional power to declare war and has not declared war or enacted a specific authorization for the hostilities in question. It invokes section 1013 of the Department of State Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985, which sets a termination procedure. It preserves exceptions for defense against armed attack or imminent armed threat and for support to civil authorities in authorized counternarcotics operations, and states that drug trafficking alone does not constitute such an attack or threat.
Theological note: Relevant to the question of whether the state may initiate lethal force without lawful, accountable authority. Scripture assigns the sword to government under limits of justice, and a Reformed framework stresses that power must be exercised under law and not by unchecked executive will. Restoring the legislative check on unauthorized hostilities bears on the duty to avoid unjust bloodshed and on the rule of lawful authority, while preserving defense against real attack.
Scoring
How this bill is scored
- Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
- Lane: de_escalation. Category: war_peace. Lane tag: prudential.
- Lane: unauthorized_hostilities. Category: war_peace. Lane tag: general equity.
- Lane: war_powers. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
- Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
- Stored polarity: good. A yea supports the bill. A nay is the penalized direction when the tag is scored as a protection. A yea on a credit tag is a credit.
- Roll 555: On the Motion to Discharge S.J.Res. 83. Vote type: discharge.
- Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure directly restrains a named harm, the use of United States armed forces in hostilities without congressional authorization. This is a restraint on potentially unjust killing and on the usurpation of Congress's constitutional war power. Its exceptions for self-defense and authorized counternarcotics support are prudential boundaries rather than evidence of moral harm, so the classification is good rather than mixed.
- Theological note: Relevant to the question of whether the state may initiate lethal force without lawful, accountable authority. Scripture assigns the sword to government under limits of justice, and a Reformed framework stresses that power must be exercised under law and not by unchecked executive will. Restoring the legislative check on unauthorized hostilities bears on the duty to avoid unjust bloodshed and on the rule of lawful authority, while preserving defense against real attack.
Debt and war Cloture and Tier 1 Procedural votes Scoring mechanics de escalation
Roll
Recorded votes
Roll 555 · October 8, 2025, 07:47 PM · On the Motion to Discharge S.J.Res. 83 · Motion to Discharge Rejected (48-51)
Yea
- ALSOBROOKS, ANGELA
- BALDWIN, TAMMY
- BENNET, MICHAEL F.
- BLUMENTHAL, RICHARD
- BLUNT ROCHESTER, LISA
- BOOKER, CORY A.
- CANTWELL, MARIA
- COONS, CHRISTOPHER A.
- CORTEZ MASTO, CATHERINE
- DUCKWORTH, L. TAMMY
- DURBIN, RICHARD J.
- GALLEGO, RUBEN
- GILLIBRAND, KIRSTEN
- HASSAN, MARGARET WOOD
- HEINRICH, MARTIN
- HICKENLOOPER, JOHN W.
- HIRONO, MAZIE K.
- KAINE, TIMOTHY MICHAEL
- KELLY, MARK
- KIM, ANDY
- KING, ANGUS S. JR.
- KLOBUCHAR, AMY
- LUJAN, BEN RAY
- MARKEY, EDWARD SEN.
- MERKLEY, JEFFREY ALAN
- MURKOWSKI, LISA
- MURPHY, CHRISTOPHER S
- MURRAY, PATTY
- OSSOFF, T. JONATHAN
- PADILLA, ALEX
- PAUL, RAND
- PETERS, GARY
- REED, JOHN F.
- ROSEN, JACKY
- SANDERS, BERNARD
- SCHATZ, BRIAN
- SCHIFF, ADAM
- SCHUMER, CHARLES E.
- SHAHEEN, JEANNE
- SLOTKIN, ELISSA
- SMITH, TINA
- VAN HOLLEN, CHRIS
- WARNER, MARK ROBERT
- WARNOCK, RAPHAEL
- WARREN, ELIZABETH
- WELCH, PETER
- WHITEHOUSE, SHELDON
- WYDEN, RONALD L.
Nay
- BANKS, JAMES E. HON.
- BARRASSO, JOHN A
- BLACKBURN, MARSHA MRS.
- BOOZMAN, SEN. JOHN
- BRITT, KATIE BOYD
- BUDD, THEODORE P
- CAPITO, SHELLEY MOORE
- CASSIDY, WILLIAM M.
- COLLINS, SUSAN M.
- CORNYN, JOHN SEN
- COTTON, THOMAS
- CRAMER, KEVIN MR.
- CRAPO, MICHAEL D
- CURTIS, JOHN
- DAINES, STEVE
- ERNST, JONI K
- FETTERMAN, JOHN KARL
- FISCHER, DEBRA S.
- GRAHAM, LINDSEY O.
- GRASSLEY, CHARLES E
- HAGERTY, BILL
- HAWLEY, JOSHUA DAVID SEN
- HOEVEN, JOHN
- HUSTED, JON
- HYDE-SMITH, CINDY
- JOHNSON, RON HAROLD MR.
- JUSTICE, JAMES CONLEY II
- KENNEDY, JOHN NEELY
- LANKFORD, JAMES PAUL
- LEE, MIKE
- LUMMIS, CYNTHIA MARIE MRS.
- MARSHALL, ROGER W
- MCCONNELL, MITCH
- MCCORMICK, DAVE
- MOODY, ASHLEY
- MORAN, JERRY
- MORENO, BERNIE
- MULLIN, MARKWAYNE
- RICKETTS, PETE
- RISCH, JAMES E MR.
- ROUNDS, MIKE
- SCHMITT, ERIC
- SCOTT, RICK SEN
- SCOTT, TIMOTHY E.
- SHEEHY, TIM
- SULLIVAN, DAN
- THUNE, JOHN R.
- TILLIS, THOM R SEN
- TUBERVILLE, THOMAS H
- WICKER, ROGER SEN.
- YOUNG, TODD CHRISTOPHER