Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a longtime critic of President Obama’s foreign policy, as well as the sequester’s effects on the military and intelligence agencies, has introduced legislation to provide specific relief to those sectors in the days following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks on Paris that killed 130.
“I think that there are a number of Democrats that are very interested,” McCain told the Washington Examiner when asked about the bill’s chances, given a likely veto from the president.
“This isn’t just about defense spending,” McCain said. “It would provide relief to the NSA, FBI, CIA and others.”
Budget sequestration refers to the automatic spending cuts that were instituted as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011. The issue of debt relief weighed heavily on the 2011-13 Congress, many of whom were elected on the Tea Party wave, inveighing against government spending. Broadly, Democrats sought military spending cuts, while Republicans were focused on cuts to domestic spending. No compromise was ever reached, but the idea was that it would eventually happen, and the device of the sequester was put in place to incentivize both sides to agree to some cuts they didn’t necessarily want.
It never happened, and sequestration remains in effect, albeit mitigated by the recent budget deal. Economists and defense experts vastly disagree on how costly or how dangerous the cuts actually are.
McCain sees an opening for defense and related relief now that President Obama has drawn flack on two fronts since the deadly Paris attacks.
“You keep hoping the guy will recognize reality,” McCain said of Obama’s general posture toward international terrorism and approach to the Syrian civil war.
First, nearly 50 Democrats bucked party line to vote for a GOP-led House bill that toughened the process for Syrian refugees seeking American asylum. That number sets up the possibility of a veto-proof bill on refugees, a defeat for President Obama delivered by members of his own party.
Second, Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and former Obama administration Defense Secretary Leon Panetta each took to the nation’s Sunday shows on Nov. 22 to criticize the president’s foreign policy and handling of the Islamic State.
McCain plans to use this opportunity to pass a proposal he has long supported over the president’s objections.
“Lindsey and I have talked about this for years,” McCain said, indicating the support the bill enjoys from McCain’s long-time ally, frequenter collaborator and presidential candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
McCain believes the sequester cuts erode Western preparedness, but also the United States’ ability to wage a campaign against the Islamic State, which has been most frequently linked to the Paris attacks. McCain, like the Obama administration, seeks the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the destruction of the Islamic State.
McCain has been more forceful than Obama, however, and recently called for 10,000 American ground troops to be deployed in Syria.
The general assumption since the Paris attacks is that any ground troops would be dispatched against the Islamic State, not Assad. When asked how he wants these ground forces to be used, McCain called destroying the Islamic State the “first priority,” but indicated an openness to armed confrontation with Assad as well.
“Assad is clearly a war criminal,” McCain said.
“ISIS is the child of Bashar al-Assad,” he added. McCain argued that the importance of an international no-fly zone over Syria was paramount. If Assad violates such a no-fly zone, that could provoke American confrontation under McCain’s plan.
“If that means shooting down Assad’s aircraft — absolutely,” McCain said.
