President Joe Biden’s first term may be history-making… but not for the reason Biden supporters had hoped.
A new bill has been introduced in the Senate that will strip Biden and future presidents of their expansive powers to deploy the military and engage in foreign wars without the consent of Congress.
Since being proposed, the proposal has gained huge bipartisan support.
Sens Todd Young, R-I.N., and Tim Kaine, D-V.A., introduced a bill on Wednesday that would repeal the White House’s decades-old power to order major military operations in the Middle East without consulting Congress.
Their bill would repeal both the 1991 and 2002 authorizations that allowed for the Iraq War invasion and occupation that has lasted for 17 years.
That would be bad news for the Military-Industrial Complex and fans of “forever wars” — but good news for voters who want to bring American troops home.
“Congress has been operating on autopilot when it comes to our essential duties to authorize the use of military force,” Young said. “The fact that authorities for both of these wars are still law today is illustrative of the bipartisan failure of Congress to perform its constitutionally-mandated oversight role.”
Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate in their failed 2016 presidential campaign, agreed.
“Last week’s airstrikes in Syria show that the executive branch, regardless of party, will continue to stretch its war powers,” Kaine said. “Congress has a responsibility to not only vote to authorize new military action, but to repeal old authorizations that are no longer necessary.”
Senators from both sides of the political aisle have gotten behind the Kaine-Young effort.
Liberal Sens. Chris Coons, D-D.E., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. joined conservative Sens. Mike Lee, R-U.T., Rand Paul, R-K.Y., and Chuck Grassley, R-I.A., have all signed on as co-sponsors.
The Biden administration pushed back on critics of the Syrian airstrike.
“The President, as commander in chief, has a fundamental responsibility to act in defense self-defense of our troops and our assets overseas, nothing’s going to change about that,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Fox News.
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