The House on Thursday appeared headed toward authorizing President Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels as part of his overall strategy to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, voiced support for Obama’s request, even as he criticized his Islamic State strategy for being insufficient to ultimately defeat the terrorist organization.
Dovish Democrats also seemed ready to line up behind Obama, despite their traditional misgivings about military involvement in the Middle East. The final vote, still yet to be scheduled, is likely to be evenly divided along bipartisan lines.
“I think we need to take action against [the Islamic State] and I want to be supportive of that. It is a threat to our allies and to our own country,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said, after leaving a classified military briefing on Obama’s Syria strategy.
“I think the president laid out a coherent strategy,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, added.
Still, garnering Congressional support was hardly assured as House members headed back to their districts for the weekend.
House Republicans are already balking at Obama’s request that Congress include legislative language authorizing to arm and train the Syrian rebels inside the continuing resolution budget bill that has to pass by Sept. 30 to avert a government shutdown.
Boehner said no decision had been made as to the legislative process, but knowledgeable House Republicans said they expected Obama’s request to be separated from the CR and granted a standalone vote.
Among House Republicans in particular, concern was brewing over the effectiveness of the Syrian component of Obama’s Islamic State strategy. A House Republican familiar with internal deliberations said a consensus to support the president’s plan had yet to “coalesce” and warned that the momentum, albeit sluggish, to endorse the arming and training of Syrian rebels with their vote might yet sputter.
A key concern is that the rebels might not be capable of fighting ISIS forces, who could end up in possession of the U.S. equipment the rebels are provided.
Obama previously voiced such fears to explain why he opposed such a strategy to help the rebels in their civil war against Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. Among the biggest GOP skeptics are Republicans who serve on the House Intelligence Committee, according to sources.
“This is a monumental decision on whether to provide backing for Syrian rebels with unbelievable consequences if we make the wrong decision,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
Just a few weeks ago, it was assumed that disposing of the CR would be the biggest challenge facing Congress this month, with members scrambling to get back home for the midterm campaign. But the ISIS threat has upended the legislative calendar.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., canceled a scheduled Thursday vote on the stopgap spending bill to allow Congress time to consider Obama’s request for authorization to arm and train the Syrian rebels, known in legislative parlance as “Title 10” authority. On Thursday, McCarthy announced that the House would return for next week’s session on Monday, one day earlier than originally scheduled, to allow additional time to consider the president’s plan.
During his weekly on-camera news conference, Boehner indicated that he wants a vote on the CR next week, regardless of whether members are ready to weigh in on Syria. Congress is scheduled to be in recess the week of Sept. 21, and if the spending bill isn’t handled before their week off, members would return with just two days to act or risk a government shutdown.
Senior Republican aides said GOP leaders are still consulting with members on the best path forward for the CR and Obama’s ISIS request. One concern about separating the ISIS vote from the CR among House GOP leaders is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., could combine the two and send the package back to the House for another vote, especially if he feels that’s what he needs to do to garner Democratic votes.
The House is scheduled to be in session the week of Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. The assumption is that those work weeks will be canceled so that members can focus on the campaign, but they could be used if more debate time on ISIS is required. Of course, the longer members spend considering whether to support the president’s Syria strategy, the more time exists for them to harbor second thoughts and be persuaded by their colleagues who plan to vote “no.”
“I would be willing to support an authorization against ISIS. I am not going to simply just vote to send money to Syrian rebels. I just don’t think that that’s a strategy that’s likely to succeed,” Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said. “I don’t think this is thought through.
