The funding for ICE and the Pentagon might be unconstitutional because it lasts too long.
April 17, 2026
Original Paper
The Army Clause: A Forgotten Constitutional Check on ICE, CBP, and the Pentagon
SSRN · 6466639
The Takeaway
The U.S. Constitution has a forgotten rule called the 'Army Clause,' which says the government can't fund an army for more than two years at a time. This was meant to keep the military on a short leash. But today, agencies like ICE, CBP, and parts of the DoD get multi-year appropriations that blow right past this limit. This paper argues that our entire national security funding structure is a violation of a 200-year-old constitutional check. It’s a 'hidden' rule that, if enforced, could completely upend how the US manages its borders and its military.
From the abstract
<p>This Article argues that Congress’s recent use of multi-year appropriations to fund federal military and immigration enforcement operations violates the Constitution’s Army Clause, which limits appropriations “to raise and support Armies” to two years. Drawing on constitutional text, founding-era history, and executive branch interpretations, the Article advances a functional reading of the Clause: its constraints apply not only to formally designated military forces, but to any permanent, ce