There is a widening disconnect between Congress and the executive branch in the U.S. — an imbalance, says Yale Law School professor Harold Koh, that has led to a stark conclusion: “Too much law is being made by the president acting alone, and Congress has no one to blame but itself.”

“Congress has the tools… they’re atrophied, like muscles no longer used.”

Koh joined Yale Jackson alumna Rheanne Wirkkala, former assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs and co-founder of Clarion Strategies, for a discussion on the role of Congress in foreign affairs on September 11. The event was part of a Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment lecture series on the theory and practice of statecraft.

Wirkkala provided the perspective of a seasoned practitioner, sharing her experience in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. She noted that “the parochial nature of Congress versus the executive’s strategic vision is one of the greatest challenges [she] faced.”

Wirkkala emphasized Congress’s ingrained structural incentives to promote politically motivated agendas, despite the risk of undermining long-term national security strategy. She detailed how, despite the Pentagon’s vested interest in reorienting resources towards the Pacific and battling the rising China challenge, Congress will still push funding for programs that sustain jobs in their districts.

“Apache helicopters: incredibly useful in Afghanistan, incredibly not useful in the Pacific,” Wirkkala shared as an example. “But if you have a plant in your district, you’ll fight for more Apaches – even in 2023.”

Relatedly, Koh warned of the risks of diverging from the constitution’s intended balance of power. “What was designed to be a system of checks and balances has morphed into one where the president does nearly everything, and Congress looks on from the sidelines.”

Their conversation made one thing clear: without urgent reform, Congress risks becoming a spectator in the foreign policy decisions it is designed to influence.

The Blue Center’s lecture series pairs practitioners from government and industry with Yale professors to deliver joint, hour-long lectures on subjects of mutual expertise. Practitioners discuss events or policy initiatives in which they participated, and academics cover related insights or results generated by their research.