Following Iraq's August 2, 1990 invasion of Kuwait, then-President George H. W. Bush began deploying U.S. military forces to the Persian Gulf. On November 8, 1990, while significantly increasing troop levels, President Bush announced an intention to prepare for an "offensive military operation." As Congress had not been asked to make a declaration of war, nor had it explicitly given authorization for war, on November 19, 1990, 53 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one U.S. Senator filed a preliminary injunction to bar the President from taking military action in advance of Congressional authorization. The Department of Justice opposed the injunction motion and moved to dismiss, and the Congressmember plaintiffs subsequently moved for summary judgment.

The Department of Justice argued that the Congressmember plaintiffs lacked standing, that the adjudication of the case was precluded by the political question doctrine, and that the case was not ripe for a decision. On December 13, 1990, Judge Harold H. Greene denied the preliminary injunction motion. The decision affirmed that the members of Congress had standing to bring the case and that the political question doctrine did not bar the court from adjudicating the case, but determined that the case was not ripe for relief because a majority of members of Congress had not taken action on the question of authorization and because the President had not definitively taken steps to initiate an attack. Congress subsequently provided authorization for war in January 1991, and the case was not appealed.

This case is part of CCR's historic efforts to defend against executive overreach and counter U.S. militarism abroad.