CNN’s Resident Trump Defender Doesn’t Know How the Constitution Works
Scott Jennings apparently doesn't know that Congress, not the president, is responsible for declaring war.

Republican strategist Scott Jennings had to be reminded how the U.S. Constitution works, during an explosive CNN roundtable debate Thursday night.
Jennings, a senior political commentator at the network, argued that a federal judge had overstepped their authority Thursday by striking down Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals the government claims are members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez ruled that TdA’s presence did not constitute an “invasion,” as the president had previously claimed. The first-term Trump appointee wrote that the administration had inappropriately invoked the law, which applies only when the nation is facing an armed, organized attack by an invading country.
CNN host Abby Phillip was forced to step in to give Jennings a humiliating civics lesson.
“Can I just ask a simple question, who gets to decide whether the United States is at war?” Phillip asked.
“The president, in my opinion—” Jennings replied.
“No, no, no, actually—” Phillip continued, but Jennings wouldn’t hear the answer.
“If we’re being invaded, I want the commander in chief—”
“Scott, Scott no. It’s actually the Congress,” Phillip said, calmly.
“You want to call Congress and see if we’re being invaded? We’ll be taken over before they ever get to the committee room!” Jennings said.
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution specifically grants Congress the sole power to “declare War.” Jennings should be well aware of this fact, but as Josh A. Cohen pointed out in a post on X, “His Bush admin background breaking through like Venom.” (Jennings had previously worked for George W. Bush’s successful 2004 reelection campaign before joining the White House.)
While Jennings may not have sworn any oath to uphold the Constitution, Trump certainly has—and yet the president has continued to attack the checks and balances it established. Trump has repeatedly undermined Congress’s power of purse by directing the withholding of federal funds, and has also begun waging war on the Fourteenth Amendment which established birthright citizenship.