Episode 161 Trump’s War Powers Tested in Congress as Conflict Spirals

Americans woke up on Saturday morning to news that Trump and Israel had bombed Iran, killing Ayatollah Khamenei along with top Iranian military leaders. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases and allies in the region. Asha and Renato analyze Trump’s inarticulate and circular reasons for launching the attack, what triggers the War Powers Resolution and how a president has “first-mover advantage” when it comes to taking the country to war. Then, Renato and Asha turn to the Trump administration’s latest retaliatory moves at home: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk after the company refused to let its AI model be used for autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance, and the Justice Department’s clumsy moves against four law firms that successfully challenged Trump’s executive orders against them. Listen up!Ask Asha: War Powers Who Has the Final Say? Substack: to our podcast: Asha on Bluesky: Renato on Bluesky: Asha on Instagram: Renato on Instagram: with us! Become a member of Legal AF YouTube community: Become a member of the Legal AF Substack: Follow Legal AF on Bluesky: Follow Michael Popok on Bluesky:

You can listen to Episode 161 Trump’s War Powers Tested in Congress as Conflict Spirals online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 161 Trump’s War Powers Tested in Congress as Conflict Spirals is an episode from On Topic with Renato Mariotti by Renato Mariotti.

This episode is 42:48 long.

This episode was published on Mar 6, 2026.

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