WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to urge Congress to pass legislation authorizing the ongoing war against Islamic State militants.
But the president gave no signs that he would start that process by sending Congress draft language for an Authorization for the Use of Military Force — something lawmakers have been waiting for him to do for months. To the contrary, White House officials signaled earlier in the day that Obama might not send language at all.
The president only mentioned the need for new war authorization once in his remarks. He said the U.S.-led military coalition has been successful in halting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but that it’s going to take time to defeat them.
“Tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL,” he said.
Lawmakers in both parties will likely be disappointed that Obama didn’t say anything new. Last week, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters he expected the White House to send over draft language in a few weeks. It’s unclear whether anything has changed since then.
Corker, who is the White House’s point person on moving war authorization legislation through Congress, recently told The Huffington Post that he suspects administration officials are slow-walking the process of sending language to Capitol Hill because they’re not even sure what their anti-Islamic State strategy is in Syria. Obama said in November that passing new war authorization was one of his top priorities for the lame-duck session, but nothing ever came of it.
“I look forward to seeing the president’s language soon on an authorization for the use of military force,” Corker said in a statement after Obama made the comment about war authorization.
White House officials told reporters earlier Tuesday that they are “working through” the question of whether or not to send war authorization language to Congress.
“He will describe his own approach and reaffirm his intention to get it done,” one senior administration official said of Obama’s coming speech. “But he won’t explicitly promise to send one over to the Hill.”
It’s been five months since the U.S began bombing the Islamic State. In that time, the U.S. has spent more than $1 billion, participated in more than 1,700 air strikes, authorized roughly 3,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and lost three U.S. soldiers. All of this has gone on without a new AUMF.
Obama maintains he doesn’t need new legal authority to bomb the Islamic State, citing a sweeping AUMF from 2001 as his legal justification, but has said he welcomes new authorization anyway. Lawmakers in both parties disagree that the president has that authority. Some Democrats have grown tired of waiting for the White House and pushed Congress to move its own AUMF, but others are wary of advancing a war bill without sign-off from the White House. Typically, the White House begins the war authorization process.
Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said it’s not enough for Obama to talk about the need for a new AUMF.
“The Speaker continues to believe that the Commander-in-Chief has an obligation to send up language and help build a coalition to pass an AUMF to defeat and destroy ISIL,” said Fritz. “Vague promises about ‘working through’ difficult issues isn’t going to cut it.”
See more on Obama’s speech below:
live blog Oldest Newest Share + Today 10:15 PM ESTWhat Michelle Obama Wore HuffPost’s Julee Wilson reports:
While admittedly the President gets center stage at the 2015 State of the Union, we’re eager, as always, to see what the first lady is wearing.
On Tuesday night, Michelle Obama stepped out in a Michael Kors skirt suit. The tweed design, which boasted a wide collar and zipper detailing is a perfect reflection of FLOTUS’ love for form-fitting, yet sophisticated frocks. We’ve seen her in Michael Kors several times before, including the first-ever White House Turnaround Arts Talent Show, the night President Obama was reelected and in her official White House portrait in 2013, just to name a few.
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Jen Bendery reports:
President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to urge Congress to pass legislation authorizing the ongoing war against Islamic State militants.
But the president gave no signs that he would start that process by sending Congress draft language for an Authorization for the Use of Military Force — something lawmakers have been waiting for him to do for months. To the contrary, White House officials signaled earlier in the day that Obama might not send language at all.
Read the full story here.
“I have no more campaigns to run. I know, because I won both of them,” Obama said.
Obama received a standing ovation when he spoke about reforming the nation’s criminal justice system.
“We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York. But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift,” Obama said. “Surely we can agree it’s a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves us all.”
Read more here.
President Barack Obama doesn’t often speak about labor unions or the role of collective bargaining in the U.S. economy — that is, unless he’s speaking to a union crowd somewhere on the campaign trail. But the president offered a rare hat-tip to organized labor during his State of the Union speech Tuesday.
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Here’s HuffPost’s State of the Union drinking game, so you can play along as you watch the president’s speech.
Anthony Mendez knows a thing or two about defeating the odds.
The 19-year-old’s best friend was shot and killed during a neighborhood feud in 2011. A year later, Mendez’s family was evicted from their home in the Bronx and forced to live in a shelter for the next six months.
And on Jan. 20, he’ll be first lady Michelle Obama’s guest at the State of the Union, according to USA Today.
Read the full story here.
— Robbie Couch
Republican businesswoman Carly Fiorina blasted President Barack Obama on Tuesday hours before the State of the Union address, disputing the notion that policies enacted during Obama’s six years in office have contributed to an accelerating economic recovery.
“He will apparently declare victory on the economy tonight, but of course, whatever life there is in the economy is not due to his policies, it’s in spite of his policies,” Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard and potential 2016 presidential candidate, said in an interview with Newsmax.
Obama is expected to acknowledge positive economic indicators — including a steadily declining unemployment rate, GDP growth and new highs on Wall Street — when he addresses the nation Tuesday evening. Fiorina’s comments about Obama’s legacy echo those of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who suggested earlier this month that the good news might have something to do with the election of a Republican Congress.
Though considered a long shot for the presidency, Fiorina said she is “seriously considering” throwing her hat into the ring.
— Igor Bobic
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, where she offered some clues about President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address.
“From what I hear about what he will present, it will reflect what we have seen across the country in terms of what he said last year, reflected across the country: ‘When Women Succeed, America Succeeds,'” she said. “It is about college affordability, about child care, about sick leave, all the kinds of issues that enable families –- not just women -– families to succeed.”
Pelosi invoked the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., a day following the federal holiday in his honor, and signaled that the president would also discuss proposals aimed at providing additional assistance to the middle class.
“So what we hear tonight I know will be in furtherance of increasing that paycheck, starting from the middle, starting from benefits –- when I say benefits, initiatives that benefit the middle class and those who aspire to it –- all of it a reflection of the American people’s thinking, all of it about engagement for what the Reverend Martin Luther King talked about, all of it, hopefully, we will be able to do in a bipartisan way,” she added.
— Igor Bobic
A number of House lawmakers plan to hold up yellow pencils during the State of the Union address tonight in symbolic tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The tribute is being spearheaded by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), whose office confirmed on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would reference the victims of the attack during his address.
“In the face of the terrorist attack in France, the pencil has become the international symbol in support of free speech,” the press release from Moore’s office read. “Rather than divide and intimidate us, these brazen and barbaric attacks have united the international community and prompted a global response in defense of the freedom of expression. The Congresswoman believes that this is unique opportunity to join our global partners in showing our collective support and solidarity.”
An official with Moore’s office told The Huffington Post that as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, at least seven other lawmakers have agreed to raise yellow pencils in solidarity. The official said that the White House has started making calls to the Hill to see who else plans to participate in the tribute, and expects that by the end of the day, multiple members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus will have joined in.
Moore, for her part, will participate from a wheelchair. The congresswoman took a fall while home during the holidays and is still recovering from broken bones in both her feet and her elbow.
— Sam Stein
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) likened President Barack Obama’s proposal for new bank fees to the memorable “Saturday Night Live” sketch in which a music producer played by Christopher Walken repeatedly calls for “more cowbell.”
According to Politico, Cruz made the comparison on Tuesday when asked if he liked any aspect of Obama’s proposal.
“To every problem his solution was, ‘more cowbell, more cowbell,” Cruz said. “This president, to every problem his solution is ‘more taxes, more government.’”
Read more at Politico.
