Chapter 5: Congress Beyond the "Water's Edge"

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Chapter Summary

Since the Vietnam War, Congress has played a more active and public role in the foreign-policy process. The ability of Congress to make foreign policy, however, is constrained by many institutional, ideological, and situational factors. In addition, the relationship between Congress and the president is often filled with conflict, leading to gridlock and chaotic policy making. As this chapter highlights, Congress has the ability to influence procedural aspects of foreign policy, such as which actors are involved and how they participate. The congressional power of the purse is the most important way in which legislators influence foreign policy.

The end of the Cold War marked the end of consensus about foreign policy. Since then, congressional committees and representatives have become increasingly involved in foreign-policy making. The situational context of Congress in terms of its relationship with the White House ranges from compliance to independence. This context depends largely on the particular foreign-policy issue as well as the domestic and international climates and other timing factors. For example, during the 1990s, President Clinton faced an increasingly resistant Congress and a new isolationist ideology. Yet, as the chapter reviews, the terrorist attacks of September 11 led to bipartisan deference to the president on foreign policy. Congress clearly plays an oversight role in the foreign-policy process by passing legislation that determines how the president and bureaucracy conduct foreign affairs, such as the War Powers Resolution and the Boland Amendment.

Congress, like the president, is not free and independent in its efforts to shape foreign policy. Political parties in government are often divided, which causes policy gridlock and confusion. Congress is also a highly fragmented institution, with its two chambers, multiple committees and subcommittees, and perpetual electoral concerns. Despite these structural limitations and the large number of actors, Congress has been successful in foreign-policy making by influencing government procedure: it has created institutions (such as the Congressional Budget Office), restructured agencies (like the State Department), and placed conditions on agencies (for example, requiring the Defense Department to report on current military involvement). Procedural reforms are not always successful: the War Powers Resolution has had mixed success in its aim to involve Congress in the foreign-policy process. Congress also manages and approves the budgetary aspects of foreign affairs, such as the recent increases in defense spending and continual downturns in international affairs spending. Since the September 11 attacks, Congress has begun to combine domestic and international policies, such as in the Patriot Act.