A lawsuit led by Palestinians and Palestinian Americans that accused President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials of enabling genocide in Gaza was rejected Monday by a federal appeals court, which upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit. The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court ruled that courts cannot review the executive branch’s decisions on foreign policy, even when there is a risk of breaking domestic and international law. We speak with Katherine Gallagher, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which helped represent the plaintiffs in the case. She says the court has “essentially given a blank check” for U.S. governments to do whatever they want in times of war.

A lawsuit led by Palestinians and Palestinian Americans that accused President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials of enabling genocide in Gaza was rejected Monday by a federal appeals court, which upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit.

The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court ruled that courts cannot review the executive branch’s decisions on foreign policy, even when there is a risk of breaking domestic and international law.

  • Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works
    8·
    4 months ago

    Congress can.

    https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-foreign-policy-powers-congress-and-president

    Congress also plays an oversight role. The annual appropriations process allows congressional committees to review in detail the budgets and programs of the vast military and diplomatic bureaucracies. Lawmakers must sign off on more than a trillion dollars in federal spending every year, of which more than half is allocated to defense and international affairs. Lawmakers may also stipulate how that money is to be spent. For instance, Congress repeatedly barred the Obama administration from using funds to transfer detainees out of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.