Can Anyone Stop a President From Starting a War? (#318)
2026-09-08 · 19 min · episode 318 · 14 entities
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Episode description as stored
What if the president can act before Congress has time to stop him?
As former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, former General Counsel of the Department of Defense, and a member of the National Security Council, Jeh Johnson has advised presidents on war, terrorism, cyber threats, and some of the country’s most consequential national security decisions.
He has seen what happens when the pressure to “do something” collides with incomplete intelligence, rapidly changing facts, political pressure, and enormous presidential power.
He discusses:
● Why “Mr. President, do something” can be dangerous advice
● Why Congress has formally declared war in only five conflicts in U.S. history
● How much military force a president can order without first going to Congress
● What happens to constitutional checks and balances when weapons can strike in minutes
● Why presidential power looks different from inside the Oval Office
● What actually happens inside the Situation Room when the intelligence is incomplete and the stakes are enormous
● The threat that worries him the most
The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. But modern military strikes and warfare can move extraordinarily fast.
So who can stop a president from starting a war? Where are the limits on presidential power when a decision has to be made in minutes? And when the law leaves enormous discretion in the hands of one person, how much ultimately depends on that person’s judgment and restraint?