Fact Check: Did Obama drop more than 26,000 bombs on 7 countries without congressional approval?

WASHINGTON, DC: A post making the rounds online claims that former President Barack Obama dropped over 26,000 bombs on seven countries in 2016, all without the Congress signing off.

That claim popped up again in 2025, right in the middle of heated debates about presidential war powers.

People started arguing about this claim again after President Donald Trump authorized a surprise strike on Venezuela in January 2026 as part of the military's capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Claim: Barack Obama dropped more than 26,000 bombs on seven countries without Congressional approval 

The viral narrative post states that in 2016 alone, President Obama ordered the US military to drop 26,171 bombs across seven countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, without congressional approval.

Supporters of this claim argue that Obama’s actions were carried out unilaterally and outside the constitutional requirement that Congress declare war or authorize the use of military force.

The post said, “Barack Obama dropped 26,171 bombs in a single year on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan without Congressional approval. Donald Trump just captured NarcoTerrorist Dictator Maduro. Guess which one received the media melted down over."

Fact Check: Yes, the claim is partially true

Yes, that number, over 26,000 bombs dropped in 2016 while Obama was president, actually checks out.

Researchers have gone through US Air Force Central Command stats and their own investigations, and they say the US dropped about 26,172 bombs that year.

That was during Operation Inherent Resolve, when US forces worked with allies to go after the Islamic State. So, most of the bombs fell as part of that campaign.

According to an analysis by the think tank Council for Foreign Relations, the US carried out 79% of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in 2016, and was responsible for 24,287 of these bombs. 

In addition, through Operation Enduring Sentinel in Afghanistan, the US dropped a total of 1,337 weapons.

And many more were dropped in other countries, and keeping in mind the number of strikes in Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, as well as the quantity of weapons used in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, the total still amounts to more than 26,000 bombs in seven countries in just 2016.

However, according to Snopes, Congress didn’t pass any new standalone authorization in 2016 just for these bombings.

Instead, the Obama administration leaned on older authorizations, mainly the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which came right after September 11.

They used this as the legal foundation for ongoing military action.

Data supports that over 26,000 bombs were dropped in 2016 under Obama. No new congressional authorization was issued, but existing AUMFs were used as legal justification, but the claims of no legal basis are misleading.