HEARING BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON REASSURING THE PUBLIC THAT EVERYTHING IS FINE
Witness: Undersecretary for Strategic Transparency (Acting)
As Transcribed by steno before she ran screaming from the room.
Chair: Thank you for being here today. Can you tell us—were the Gang of Eight notified in advance of the strikes?
Witness: Absolutely, Chairwoman. We respect the role of Congress deeply. Notification was delivered with speed, precision, and a sense of poetic timing—specifically, ten minutes after news outlets broke the story and our missile trajectories were irreversible.
Ranking Member: So you're saying Congress was looped in... retroactively?
Witness: I prefer the term sequentially informed. The chain of communication began organically—from the Pentagon, to the press, to the Gang. Democracy lives in that spontaneity.
Chair: Were proper legal frameworks followed?
Witness: To the letter. Legal memos were reviewed, footnotes were italicized, and every paragraph included at least one phrase from the Constitution—mostly "We the people" and "in order to form."
Ranking Member: Did the administration consider consulting Congress before launching a military operation?
Witness: Of course. We considered it at length. Ultimately, time constraints and a general vibe of executive momentum made consultation... aspirational.
Chair: And the label “not a war”—can you clarify?
Witness: Certainly. While weapons were deployed, targets engaged, and international tensions escalated, we have not formally declared war. It was more of a strongly worded military suggestion.
[Applause]
Chair: Thank you. Your commitment to accountability is noted and will be filed somewhere.
[C-SPAN pans to an empty]
CellyBlue-I Do Know This!
I have no doubt that this is how it all went down, more or (probably) less.
CellyBlue -- I do know this! Absolutely correct.
To bomb a foe is to initiate WAR.
The most dangerous evolution of plenary executive powers inheres in the history that 8 December 1941 was the LAST TIME a President of the United States obtained a Declaration of War from Congress under its Article I powers.
Starting with President Harry S Truman, we have been in numerous wars SOLELY under Article II, the Executive, with no compliance with Article I.
The evil fruits include Chief Justice John Roberts in his SCOTUS decisions conferring plenary powers upon the Presidency.
Since George W. Bush and now Trump, we have seen most dangerous, tyrannical growth of the plenary Executive.