Senators Debate Mattis and Tillerson over Authorizing Military Force – By Jenna Lifhits (weeklystandard.com) / Oct 31 2017
Top Trump administration officials urged lawmakers on Monday not to unduly constrain the executive branch under a potential new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).
Over and over on Monday evening, senators on the Foreign Relations Committee pointed to the legislative branch’s constitutional authority to declare war and Congress’s responsibility to provide oversight, while administration officials pointed to the president’s commander-in-chief title and nudged senators against micromanaging.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis suggested cautious openness to a new AUMF, but, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, repeatedly hazarded senators against passing legislation that would hurt the president’s ability to respond to threats.
“Though a statement of continued congressional support would be welcome, a new AUMF is not legally required to address the continuing threat posed by al-Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIS,” Mattis told lawmakers during the AUMF-focused hearing. “Article II of our Constitution, the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs provide sufficient legal authority for us to engage and defeat the current threat.”
Proponents of a new AUMF argue that the 2001 authorization, which provides the legal grounds for action against groups linked to the 9/11 attacks, has been used too broadly. But lawmakers have long been splintered over the specifics of a new authorization, including whether it should set constraints on time, geographical area, or the groups targeted.
A core obstacle to passing a new AUMF, multiple lawmakers suggested, is distrust between the two branches.
“Congress has been unable bridge the gap between those who see a new AUMF as primarily an opportunity to limit the president and those who believe constraining the commander-in-chief in wartime is unwise,” Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker said. “Unfortunately, the inability to reconcile this divide without threatening the existing authorization has allowed the status quo to prevail.”
Senators have in recent weeks raised fresh concerns about congressional oversight as it relates to the scope U.S. military operations, after an ambush in Niger left four American servicemen dead. Mattis said Monday that those soldiers were on a train-and-advise mission authorized outside of the 2001 AUMF.
Mattis and Tillerson outlined a number of requests for a new AUMF in case lawmakers go ahead with a markup, as Corker suggested after the hearing. For one, the secretaries said not to repeal the current AUMFs before passing a replacement. They also asked for any new AUMF not to include time restrictions, in part because a so-called ‘sunset’ would give away valuable information to adversaries and allow them to use legal strictures against the U.S.
PB/TK – As outgoing Senator Flake stated ” ’70 percent of the House and the Senate has never voted on an AUMF’ ” Considering the original was passed in 2001 I don’t think 70% of that class even exists in Congress today.
