Latest in AUMF: Legislative Reaffirmation
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) have introduced a bill that would revoke the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force in Iraq. The bill is below.
Nearly 17 years after the 9/11 attacks, a bipartisan coalition of senators has put forward legislation that promises to overhaul the legal framework for America’s worldwide campaign against terrorism. Proponents of this measure argue the existing authorization for military force—an AUMF in wonk-speak—passed back in September 2001 has become woefully outdated. The failure to modernize it, supporters say, represents a dereliction of duty by Congress.
Sen. Jeff Merkley has released the text of a new draft AUMF, available in full below. The senator's press release and summary of the bill are available here.
Last Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony about the Corker-Kaine AUMF proposal, S.J. Res. 59, from former State Department legal adviser John B. Bellinger and Georgetown law professor Rita M. Siemion. Sen.
I very much appreciate Liza Goitein’s response on Lawfare this morning to an earlier post
In a Lawfare post on April 25, Bobby Chesney criticizes a New York Times editorial that opined that the Corker-Kaine AUMF could be used to attack Iran or North Korea. Because this part of the editorial linked to my op-ed in Defense One, Chesney focuses on my analysis.
Sens. Bob Corker, Tim Kaine, Jeff Flake, Chris Coons, Todd Young, and Bill Nelson introduced the following draft authorization for use of military force against designated terrorist groups on Monday:
The Senate voted 61 to 36 on Wednesday to table Senator Paul Rand’s (R-KY) amendment to the 2018 NDAA, which would have repealed the 2001 and 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
This morning at 10am, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a hearing on "Authorization for the Use of Military Force and Current Terrorist Threats." Witnesses include former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Richard Gross (Retired), and former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olsen. A livestream of the hearing is available below.
As Bobby Chesney noted, today House Republicans took a surprising move by adopting an amendment offered by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) to a Defense spending bill to sunset the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee (HAC-D) was debating funding levels for the military when Rep.