Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will return to the Hill on Monday to talk about new military force authorizations for the fight against terrorists groups worldwide, an issue that has drawn new attention in the wake of the deaths of four U.S. service members in Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the past three years, lawmakers have debated whether new authorizations are needed for such anti-terrorism meetings, but with little progress. Administration officials have argued that authorities approved by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks give them broad authority to send U.S. troops into regions where extremists could plot similar assaults on the U.S. homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., said he is working on a new authorization draft, one that would focus those war powers more regionally. Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are expected to discuss those matters at the Monday hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also this week, McCain\u2019s committee will receive another update behind closed doors on naval readiness following a series of deadly accidents this summer at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMonday, Oct. 30<\/strong> Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of October 30, 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":86,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,86,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3347],"class_list":["post-38852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SBQUA7OLPZF35EMWPHMGPWFFCA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/10\/30\/this-week-in-congress-mattis-and-the-aumf-debate\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n
Senate Foreign Relations \u2014 5 p.m. \u2014 Dirksen 419
Military force authorizations<\/i>
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will testify before the committee on the need for updated authorizations for the use of military force in the fight against terrorist groups.
Tuesday, Oct. 31<\/strong>
Senate Homeland Security \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Dirksen 342
Hurricane response<\/i>
Federal officials, including the head of U.S. Northern Command, Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, will update the committee on hurricane response efforts this year.
Senate Armed Services \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Visitors Center S217
Closed hearing<\/i>
Committee members will receive a closed briefing on recent naval accidents from Pentagon officials.
Wednesday, Nov. 1<\/strong>
Senate Foreign Relations \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Dirksen 419
Nominations<\/i>
The committee will consider several pending nominations, including Irwin Goldstein to be under secretary of state for public diplomacy.
House Oversight \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2154
Afghanistan<\/i>
Committee members will review 16 years of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and examine possible future missions there.
House Foreign Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2172
North Korea<\/i>
Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho will testify before the committee on government and military issues with the reclusive regime.
Thursday, Nov. 2<\/strong>
Senate Armed Service \u2014 9:30 a.m. \u2014 Dirksen G50
Nominations<\/i>
The committee will consider several pending nominations, including Mark Esper to be Army Secretary and Robert Wilkie to be Under Secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness.
House Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Cannon 334
Pending legislation<\/i>
The committee will consider several pieces of pending legislation.
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"