Q28

[chocolatebunny]

I was down to B and D here. But ended up picking B because lines 48-50 state: "The resolution requires the President, in the absence of a declaration of war, to consult with Congress "in every possible instance"." And right after that the passage states that "...and to report to Congress within 48 hours after the forces have actually been deployed."

Why is B wrong and D correct?

[patrice.antoine]

I also chose (B). It's a detail creep answer choice. The passage says to consult with Congress before INTRODUCING forces...(B) says before DEPLOYING armed forces.

One of the many tricks on the LSAT!

[daniel]

I also chose (B). It's a detail creep answer choice. The passage says to consult with Congress before INTRODUCING forces...(B) says before DEPLOYING armed forces.

One of the many tricks on the LSAT!

I either didn't notice the switch from "introducing" to "deploying" or it didn't strike me as significant (although I now see that it is different). However, I eliminated (B) because the passage leaves open the possibility that in some instances it may not be possible for the President to consult with Congress before deploying (or introducing) forces (B), but it is absolutely necessary that he report to Congress within 48 hours after forces have been deployed (D). (NOTE: question stem says "EVERY instance" not "every POSSIBLE instance.")

Additionally, however, I think there may be a detail creep in (B), because the passage doesn't indicate that consulting the leaders of both houses of Congress is necessary. This may be what is done IRL, but the passage just says "consult with Congress" ... so perhaps if the President were to meet with the Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee (for example), but not anyone from House leadership, then this could still be construed as "consulting with Congress."

Can someone else weigh in on this... is my reasoning correct?

[christine.defenbaugh]

Daniel, bravo, your reasoning is spot on here for the leadership issue - that's precisely the detail creep that makes (B) definitively incorrect. All we know from the passage is that the President is required to consult with Congress - we don't know anything about what precisely that entails. Maybe, as you point out, he could meet with a key committee only, and avoid meeting with the 'leaders'. Or perhaps he could meet with the leaders of only the Senate, or only the House (note that the answer choice requires him to meet with leaders of each house).

I don't see any problem with the slight language shift from 'introducing' to 'deploying'. The two words appear to be essentially synonymous, and I would not eliminate an answer choice on such a fuzzy distinction. While a highly attuned radar for language shifts is critical for mastering the LSAT, there is a point at which we can go to far. The LSAT does not make answer choices wrong for minute, hairsplitting reasons based on tiny connotation shifts. A language shift may be a single word, and it may reveal an easily overlooked difference, but the difference should be substantive. In this case, I don't see any difference in the real import of 'introducing' and 'deploying'.

Great analysis!




Let's also just walk through how to attack this question from the top. For Reading Comprehension detail questions, we need to be willing and able to find the explicit support for the answer in the passage.

While this question does not give us a quote or line reference, it does refer to the terms of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. This takes us directly to the third paragraph. There are two things that the President is compelled to do in "every possible instance":
1) consult with Congress before introducing troops and
2) report to Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops

#2 is represented nearly word for word in answer choice (D)!

Not Compelled
(A) There is no discussion in the passage of requesting Congress to consider a formal declaration of war.
(B) As noted above, while the President is required to consult with Congress, he is not specifically required to consult with "the leaders", much less those "of both houses."
(C) The President is required to consult, but Congress's approval or disapproval has no effect until the 60 day mark (line 55-56).
(E) Congress merely has to specifically authorize the military operation to continue - they do not have to specifically declare war. In any case, even if Congress does not authorize the operation, the President is only required to end it in "most cases" (line 55).


I hope this helps make this question a bit more clear!

[mornincounselor]

The analysis is perfect here. It's an interesting question for discussion purposes though. The test writers use the phrase "in every instance" specifically to make us return to the sentence where that same phrase is utilized in the passage.

But, of course the sentence where that phrase is used in the passage is about a requirement that isn't in fact mandatory "in every instance." But, the next sentence is in fact mandatory.

The test writers want us to return to just the sentence where the phrase is used, but, we really have to read both of the surrounding sentences for context.

[tommywallach]

Great posts today, Mornin! : )

[dragonliwenxu]

Can we logically infer from the question that the President "will definitely deploy armed forces immediately" or just "desparately wants to deploy armed forces but has not done so"?

If the first is the case, then D should be the answer.

If the second might be the case, then it is still not sure whether the President would deploy armed forces or not, therefore things described in D might not happen.

[JacquelineP303]

Can someone please explain why C is incorrect?

It seems like C would be supported by lines 53-55 ("the resolution allows Congress to veto the involvement once it begins") because this phrase is not being modified by "most cases" or "every possible instance" so it could apply in "every instance."

There are a few reasons why I think C is incorrect, but I am having trouble seeing how these points outweigh the point above:
1. It may be incorrect to look at lines 53-55 in isolation, meaning we have to view Congress's veto power together with the requirement that in most cases, the President must withdraw troops in 60 days unless otherwise authorized by Congress. The "and" connecting lines 53-55 with the rest of the sentence shows that the rest of the sentence is a continuation of the point in lines 53-55.
2. Additionally, Congress's power to veto is not equivalent to an express authorization to continue using troops. If Congress does not veto the involvement, that does not mean that Congress expressly authorized the involvement.
3. Answer choice C talks about "desist from deploying," when the mandatory requirements of the President under the War Powers Resolution come into play after deployment (report to Congress within 48 hours). Can we assume that "desist from deploying" means that deployment has not happened yet?

[ohthatpatrick]

When we consult the last paragraph, do we find any match for the keywords in the question stem?
the President is compelled in every instance

Line 48 says that the resolution required the President, so this seems like the right place to look.

- consult with Congress? (no, just in every possible instance)
- report to Congress w/in 48 hrs after forces have been deployed? (Yes)

Once we move on to the next sentence, 53-58, we no longer are operating under the umbrella of "President is compelled in every instance".

- Congress is [i]allowed[/b] to veto involvement after it's already begun (cool, but that's not a requirement and it's not a requirement of the President)

- Pres is required in most cases to end w/in 60 days unless Congress condones (that is a Presidential requirement, but only in "most cases").

So of the three Presidential requirements we heard about, two of them were qualified as only being required "in every possible case" or in "most cases".

The only unconditional requirement was "to report to Congress w/in 48 hrs after forces have been deployed", which is (D).

If we perform the correct analysis of the text, seeking an answer to the question stem, here there is only one possible answer, so we wouldn't need to toil over whether one answer is "better" than another.

In terms of some of your questions about (C), it is saying "the President must always refrain from deploying any troops unless it's expressly approved by Congress".

There's nothing in the text that is so restrictive. The examples given indicate that the President has some leeway to do things on his/her own, as long as they give an initial consult and a quick (within 48 hrs) follow-up report.

Hope this helps.