Foreign Policy Making and the Congress

Report Outline
Involvement of Congress in Foreign Policy
Changes in the Part Played by Congress
Goal of Legislative-Executive Coordination

Involvement of Congress in Foreign Policy

The ninetieth congress has begun to reassert the constitutional prerogatives of the Legislative Branch in the field of foreign policy. To the consternation of the White House and the State Department, a drive for Senate adoption of a House-approved resolution to strengthen President Johnson's hand at the recent Western Hemisphere summit meeting at Punta del Este had to be abandoned when it ran into unexpected resistance in the Foreign Relations Committee.

If the trend toward greater independence of Executive Branch pressure in matters of foreign policy continues, it will mark the end of a prolonged period in which Congress has been disposed to acquiesce routinely in presidential demands. Leaders of Congress seem to be growing wary of extending to the Chief Executive more of the blank-check brand of authority that facilitated escalation of the undeclared war in Southeast Asia. The resulting friction between the White House and Capitol Hill raises anew broad questions about the proper role of Congress in the making of foreign policy.

Senate Hassle With Johnson on Punta Del Este

In preparation for the April 12–14 summit conference in Uruguay, President Johnson in mid-March asked Congress to adopt a resolution pledging the United States to increase economic aid to Latin America, to support formation of a Latin American common market, and to finance various agricultural and health programs through the Inter-American Development Bank.