Democrats vow new scrub of post-9/11 war powers

[DonViejo]

The House changeover is giving new life to calls by some lawmakers to reexamine the sweeping authority that Congress granted the president 17 years ago.

By BRYAN BENDER and GREGORY HELLMAN 12/24/2018 07:14 AM EST

Key House Democrats plan to use their newfound power to force a debate about the war-making authority that Congress approved after 9/11 — after years of being stifled by the chamber's Republican leaders.

Democrats will still face a tough fight to impose greater oversight on the U.S. military deployments that have mushroomed during the past 17 years. But prospects will be much brighter for the lawmakers who have spent years pushing Congress to weigh in on the use of American forces in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and most recently Yemen.

If they succeed, the result could be legislation restricting President Donald Trump’s ability to send combat troops to new countries, or at least setting a time limit for the executive branch to seek new authorization. That would at least guarantee more frequent public debate about where American troops are engaged and why.

Trump has begun moving unilaterally to scale back some of those engagements, ordering a withdrawal of troops from Syria and pushing to downsize the U.S. military commitment in Afghanistan. But war skeptics say it's still imperative for lawmakers to revisit the so-called Authorization for Use of Military Force that provided congressional backing for President George W. Bush’s global war on terrorism after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/24/democrats-911-war-powers-military-1074808

[Downtown Hound]

1. Better late than never

Let's see if anything actually comes of it.

[beachbum bob]

2. unless mcconnel signs on, its dead

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. that's a good incentive to unelect that smarmy rat-man-turtle

[dlk]

3. We Can Thank Bush, Cheney and the GOP for Bringing us the Imperial Presidency

Now we can all watch what Trump does with those incredible powers.

[Volaris]

5. Unless they're planning to vote the repeal of the Patriot Act IN ITS ENTIRETY

I'm not interested. Dems should have never bought that bill of goods in the first place...now Donald goddamn Trump has the same power that Obama had.

It's not the President that is the problem here. It's the 'imperial'. Many here said it. Not all heard.