As the reforms were enacted, resentment of the Church Committee simmered in the intelligence community and White House. Some Ford administration officials saw its reforms and recommendation as a congressional power grab. Supporters of executive branch power felt that, in the wake of Watergate, the Democratic-controlled Congress was unduly impinging on the president’s power to protect national security and conduct foreign affairs. The Church reforms were seen as an extension of the War Powers Act, which Congress passed in 1973, overriding Nixon’s veto. A Vietnam-related effort to prevent
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