# No declaration of war since 1941 > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "No declaration of war since 1941," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/no-declaration-of-war-since-1941/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's answer to whether Congress will assert its authority over military action against Venezuela — an unqualified no, resting on the fact that the last declaration of war was on 8 December 1941 and that even the Gulf War was fought on an authorisation to use force rather than a declaration.* - **The last declaration:** 8 December 1941 - **Number of declarations in American history:** Five, per the exchange - **The Gulf War:** An authorisation for the use of force, not a declaration - **The 9/11 authorisation:** Used by every subsequent president - **Will Congress assert itself now?:** "Absolutely not. Absolutely, positively not" - **Who he blames:** The institutions meant to check the executive, not the president **No declaration of war since 1941** is the constitutional point [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) rested on when asked, on 22 October 2025, whether Congress would ever assert its right to oversee the military action then being prepared against Venezuela. ## The question and the answer The host set out the situation: war powers are assigned exclusively to Congress under the Constitution but have been whittled away for two centuries, and the president was now deploying ten thousand troops and killing Venezuelan nationals at sea without consulting anybody — not the full Congress, and not even the gang of eight.[1][2] Asked whether Congress would reassert itself once back in session, Kiriakou gave the shortest answer available. *"Absolutely not. Absolutely, positively not."* Told that this is dangerous, he agreed: *"it's very dangerous."*[3] ## The date The evidence he offers is a single fact. *"Congress, of course, has the constitutional responsibility to declare war. Congress has not declared any war since December the 8th, 1941."*[3] The number of declarations in American history was put at five in the exchange, and Kiriakou accepted it.[3] ## The workaround He then names the mechanism that replaced the declaration, using the clearest case. *"Even before the first Gulf War, they didn't vote to declare war on Iraq. They voted to authorize the use of force."*[4] The exchange continues to the post-2001 authorisation, described as the instrument every subsequent president has used to do whatever he wants — a characterisation Kiriakou does not dispute, and which he summarises in his own words: *"our country is in shambles right now, policy-wise. It really is."*[4] ## Where he places the blame Crucially, he does not locate the failure in the presidency. *"And you know, I don't blame Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the stressor. I blame all the institutions that are supposed to serve as checks and balances"* — the opposition party, the legislature, and increasingly the courts.[5] That placement is the reason the 1941 date matters to him. A Congress that has not exercised the power in more than eight decades has not lost it to any particular president; it has, on his account, put it down. ## See also - [The war powers resolution vote](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-war-powers-resolution-vote) - [Congressional intelligence oversight](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/congressional-intelligence-oversight) - [Venezuela Boat Strikes](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/venezuela-boat-strikes) - [The thirty-year-old nominee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-thirty-year-old-nominee) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 22:51. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1371s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 24:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1466s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 24:58. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1498s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 25:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1532s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 26:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1563s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/no-declaration-of-war-since-1941/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt