Technically, the US Army's funding is unconstitutional if it lasts over two years—a rule meant to stop us from having a permanent standing army in the first place.
March 25, 2026
Original Paper
Reviving the Military's Term Limit
SSRN · 6463098
The Takeaway
Most people assume the military is a permanent branch of government, but the Constitution's 'Two-Year Clause' was designed to force a national debate on whether the Army should even exist every 24 months. The paper reveals how a 1904 legal opinion effectively silenced this rule, allowing Congress to put military activities beyond the reach of future voters by funding them years in advance.
From the abstract
This Article argues for the revival of a dormant constitutional safeguard that the Framers intended to keep the military accountable to the people. The safeguard is the Constitution’s forgotten Two-Year Clause, which prohibits Congress from appropriating funds “to raise and support Armies” for a period longer than two years. Intended to be Congress’s peace power, a 1904 legal opinion by Solicitor General William Hoyt strictly limiting the reach of the clause led to its obsolescence during the tw