Despite calls on both sides of the aisle for Congress to debate and vote on a new war authorization against the Islamic State, the Senate’s top Republican says it’s not going to happen next year.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he did not want the Senate to pass a new law governing military powers against the Islamic State when this president feels he already has the authority and anything passed now may tie the hands of the next commander-in-chief, according to reports.
“I would not want to saddle the next president with a prescriptive [force authorization]. We’re going to have a new president a year from now,” McConnell said in an interview with Roll Call. “He or she may have a different view about the way to deal with ISIS and that part of the world. I don’t think we ought to be passing an [authorization] as the president exits the stage when he already thinks he has the authority to do what he’s willing to do now.”
The U.S. is striking the Islamic State under war authorizations from 2001 and 2002 that covered operations against al Qaeda and in Iraq, respectively. While the administration says these decade-plus-old documents cover them legally, critics in both parties say lawmakers who voted for those wars never intended them to cover conflicts like today’s.
The president submitted his version of a war authorization in February. The request would prohibit “enduring offensive ground combat operations,” but otherwise contains no restrictions.
Republicans didn’t like that because they felt it needlessly limited their power. Many Democrats also didn’t like the president’s request because it left open the possibility of ground combat in some small-scale format.
As a result, Congress never debated or voted on his proposal.
Lawmakers have also introduced their own versions of a new authorization for the use of military force. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced a bill this month that has no geographical, time or ground force limitations.
Another bipartisan group has introduced a war authorization in both houses, saying it’s imperative for Congress to send a message that the country is behind the war effort that has killed one American.
“The fight against ISIL is just,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has been pressing Congress to vote on a new war authorization for months. “But it’s illegal.”
