WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is expected to ask Congress as soon as Wednesday for new authority to fight Islamic State militants, including the ability to deploy limited U.S. ground troops — a provision all but certain to draw bipartisan fire.
Obama will send his proposal in the form of a draft Authorization for Use of Military Force.
It’s a retroactive request: The U.S. has already been bombing the Islamic State for the past six months. The president maintains that he doesn’t actually need new congressional authorization to fight the group — he’s said a sweeping 2001 AUMF gives him that authority — but states that he welcomes a new AUMF anyway. Some lawmakers disagree that he has current authority.
The White House is staying mum on what to expect in the proposed AUMF, and officials maintain nothing has been finalized yet. But conversations with Hill aides and lawmakers, who have been briefed by administration officials, are shedding light on its details.
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“When we’re talking about something as weighty as an authorization to use military force, I would anticipate that it will require substantial effort from certainly the leaders in both parties in both chambers of Congress,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said last Thursday. “But I think … the administration is also committed to dedicating some resources to the passage of this new AUMF.”
As soon as lawmakers receive the final AUMF proposal, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to move quickly to hear testimony from administration officials on the strategy for defeating the Islamic State. Senators can, and likely will, offer amendments to the AUMF once it comes up for debate in the committee.
There will be “rigorous hearings,” said a spokeswoman for Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who chairs the committee.
