Photo Credit: DoD by D. Myles Cullen

President Barack Obama said drafting new war powers for the fight against the Islamic State is one of his top priorities for working with Congress before the fast-approaching end of the year.

“I’m going to begin engaging Congress over a new Authorization to Use Military Force against ISIL. The world needs to know we are united behind this effort, and the men and women of our military deserve our clear and unified support,” he said the day after the midterm elections. “The idea is to right-size and update whatever authorization Congress provides to suit the current fight, rather than previous fights,” he continued. “So it makes sense for us to make sure that the authorization from Congress reflects what we perceive to be not just our strategy over the next two or three months, but our strategy going forward.”

But senior officials at the Pentagon and on the Hill say they don’t know what the administration will propose for a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), or when the White House will propose it — if at all.
In the absence of a blueprint from the White House, several lawmakers have drafted their own versions of a new AUMF.

On the Hill, a handful of mostly Democratic lawmakers are pushing for the AUMF to be considered in the lame duck, arguing that votes more than a decade ago cannot authorize the current military operation and that waiting months to debate the ongoing military operation constitutes an abdication of Congress’ responsibility. On the other side, mostly Republican lawmakers are arguing that outgoing members should not be weighing in on a war expected to continue for years.

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