{"id":37242,"date":"2017-10-30T22:33:14","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T22:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/30\/after-16-years-congressional-debate-on-military-force-authorizations-remains-stalled\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:24:10","slug":"after-16-years-congressional-debate-on-military-force-authorizations-remains-stalled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2017\/10\/30\/after-16-years-congressional-debate-on-military-force-authorizations-remains-stalled\/","title":{"rendered":"After 16 years, congressional debate on military force authorizations remains stalled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Senate lawmakers said the deaths of four U.S. service members in unheralded anti-terrorism operations in Africa has brought new focus on the need to update the military force authorizations governing those missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that hasn\u2019t changed the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Monday, chamber leaders said they still don\u2019t see a path forward for a new, bipartisan compromise on the issue, and administration officials testified that they don\u2019t see a pressing need to repeal the 16-year-old authorizations under which U.S. troops are currently operating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 2001 and 2002 authorizations to use military force remain a sound basis for ongoing U.S. military operations against a mutating threat,\u201d Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, adding that \u201cany new congressional expression of unity\u201d for U.S. troops would be welcome, if not necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The testimony \u2014 the third hearing on the issue by the committee since the summer \u2014 repeats past comments from Mattis and other administration officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former President Barack Obama had pushed to replace those open-ended authorizations before leaving office, and sent a draft of a more limited outline to Congress after U.S. military operations began against Islamic State group forces in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Republicans called his proposals too limiting for future presidents, and some Democrats labeled them still too open-ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the issue has become a frequent topic of conversation on Capitol Hill without any significant legislative process. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., noted that no current members of the foreign relations committee were in the Senate when the original authorizations were passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should have a chance to weigh in on this,\u201d he said. \u201cWe ought to aspire to be more than part of a feedback loop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he plans on holding more hearings on the issue in months to come, but admitted he sees little hope for progress on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoving ahead without significant bipartisan support would be a mistake in my opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd right now, we are unable to bridge that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That leaves U.S. troops stationed in 19 foreign combat zones\u2014 including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Niger \u2014 operating under the 2001 and 2002 authorizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\t