It’s an interesting theme that’s developing as the administration prepares to send Congress a request as soon as Wednesday that would authorize Obama to use military force against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Democrats, wary of another long war, are seeking strict limits on the use of U.S. ground forces. Republicans, meanwhile, are the ones arguing that the commander-in-chief needs room to move as he sees fit.
Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, doesn’t want to see any restrictions in the authorization — meaning no limit on the use of ground troops, the length of time the authorization can remain in force and no restrictions on the geographic area to which the new law would apply.
“If we want to constrain the president’s actions, we have the power of the purse,” McCain said Tuesday. “The Constitution says the president of the United States is the commander in chief.”
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“Nobody knows what TPA is and nobody cares and therefore the fact that there’s a muddled message around it doesn’t become evident,” Kamarck said. “These lucky politicians can have it both ways, as they do with many things.”
For their part, Republicans questioned by CNN said their support for the president’s use of power on some matters was part of the job, otherwise nothing would ever get done in Washington.
“My job as a senator is to do the best that I can to pass legislation that I believe is important and is in our national interest,” said Tennessee GOP Sen. Bob Corker, a strong supporter of Trade Promotion Authority. “Even though I may have concerns about the executive branch and the way that they would carry things out from time to time, that still doesn’t mitigate my job or alleviate the job that I have which is to try to pass legislation that is meaningful and good for our country.”
