A federal judge threw out a lawsuit by 10 members of Congress challenging President Barack Obama’s use of military force in Libya without congressional authorization — on the same day Libya announced the death of Col Moammar Qadhafi.

The suit was filed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul (R., Texas) and Democratic Reps. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and John Conyers of Michigan, and charged that U.S. military operations in Libya were unconstitutional absent a declaration of war by Congress.

The White House said that, given the limited nature of the U.S. operation in Libya, congressional authorization wasn’t needed. Mr. Obama told Congress that he directed U.S. air strikes pursuant to his constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as commander in chief.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington tossed out the lawsuit in a 23-page opinion, saying the lawmakers had no right to bring the case.

Judge Walton said there was no indication that the 10 lawmakers brought their lawsuit on behalf of the House of Representatives as a whole, and thus there was no institutional claim that Congress’s role had been diminished. He also said the lawmakers had no right to bring the lawsuit as taxpayers seeking to challenge the president’s spending on Libyan operations.