AUMF VOTE KICKS OFF DEFENSE BILL: Persistence may be paying off for Sen. Rand Paul. When the Senate begins debate of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act today, Paul is slated to get a floor vote on his amendment giving Congress six months to replace two existing authorizations for the use of military force, or AUMFs, which have been used since 9/11 as legal justification to wage military operations around the globe. If the Senate follows through, it could be one of the first AUMF floor votes since 2002. Paul argues Congress is ceding its constitutional war powers while successive administrations wage military operations in places such as Libya, Somalia and Syria. “Let’s have a full-throated and heartfelt debate over whether we should be at war, and where,” Paul said during floor debate Tuesday. He held up consideration of the NDAA bill in July while wrangling with Sen. John McCain, the Armed Services chairman who had just returned from brain surgery, over whether his AUMF proposal would get a vote. Now, the annual must-pass bill is moving forward and so is his proposal, but its chances on the Senate floor remain murky.

Sen. Tim Kaine, one of the top Senate backers of a new AUMF, supports the Paul amendment, saying Tuesday the current interpretation of existing authorizations “essentially allow an American president without any approval from Congress to wage war anywhere, against any terrorist group, for however long they want to.” But Sen. Jeff Flake, who co-sponsored a bill with Kaine this year to create a new AUMF and is among the shrinking group of original lawmakers who voted for war in 2001 and 2002, said he will not support Paul’s proposal because it does not include a replacement authorization.