Senators introduce new war powers resolution

WASHINGTON — A new resolution from leaders on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to authorize the use of military force overseas is accelerating a debate that Congress has been reluctant to have, but that’s taking on new urgency after President Trump’s strikes on Syria.

The bipartisan measure from Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., would repeal the broad authorizations Congress approved in 2001 and 2002 for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, replacing them with new authority to go after specific “non-state terrorist groups.” A growing number of critics say Congress should no longer be using the more than decade-old resolutions as legal underpinnings for the fight against extremist groups such as the Islamic State.

The new resolution would not provide congressional authorization for the air strikes Trump ordered, with coalition forces, in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack against civilians in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Trump already has existing authority for limited strikes in Syria and the GOP leader panned the bipartisan Senate effort.

Ryan said his criteria for supporting a new authorization for military force resolution is, “Can an AUMF make it into law and does it tie the hands of our military behind their backs?”

Many lawmakers are supportive of strikes that send a message to the Syrian regime that such attacks will not go unanswered.

Others say even the limited response is beyond the president’s commander-in-chief authority because the U.S. was not facing a direct security risk.

Mostly, lawmakers have insisted that the Trump administration cannot engage in prolonged or repeated incursions without consulting Congress on its broader strategy.

“President Trump’s action still raises the constitutional question of his authority to unilaterally attack another nation without congressional authorization,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “It is time for Congress and the American people to engage in a national debate about that authorization to use military force in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.”

But it is not at all clear the new authorization resolution unveiled Monday, which is expected to focus on military action against non-state actors like the Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban rather than specific countries, would find enough support to pass the House or Senate.