Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday introduced a resolution that would give the White House an unlimited ability to wage war against the Islamic State.
McConnell had said in recent days that the only Authorization for Use of Military Force he’s interested in passing is one that gives the president every option available to fight the terrorist group.
The one submitted by Obama last year would limit ground troops, which drew GOP opposition because it sets limits on how to win the battle.
“I can’t imagine that I would be voting for an authorization to use military force that Barack Obama would sign because the one he submitted for us to take a look at restricted his activities, what he could do based upon conditions on the ground,” McConnell said last week on ABC News.
McConnell’s language leaves open every possible option for the White House to win.
“The president is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force in order to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, its associated forces, organizations, and persons, and any successor organizations,” it reads.
Democrats have resisted a stronger AUMF in part because of uncertainty over who the next president will be, and fear that a Republican president may use it to launch another ground war in the Middle East.
McConnell’s resolution would also require the Executive Branch to report at least every 60 days on the efforts it takes to fight the Islamic State.
While the measure has been introduced, McConnell has not announced whether or when the Senate might consider it.
Sens. Dan Coats, R-Ind., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, are cosponsors of the resolution. Read it here:
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