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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

Did Barack Obama drop more than 26,000 bombs on six different countries without congressional approval, as Secretary Mullin claimed?

Matthew Yim, Oklahoma Watch
yes

Former President Barack Obama dropped a collective 26,172 bombs on seven countries without congressional approval, relying on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which authorizes the president to use force against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as legal justification.

Without congressional declarations of war — nonoccurrences since World War II — the 1973 War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing military hostilities, which must end within 60 days barring congressional approval.

Obama continued airstrikes in Libya without approval, arguing that hostilities covered by the resolution require ground troops and other criteria.

Most presidents have used other legal underpinnings, including broad interpretations of Article II powers and AUMFs, to sidestep the resolution, which also requires consulting Congress before hostilities.

Every president since the 2001 AUMF has used it, but Obama was the first two-term president to have been at war for his entire presidency.

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