On Monday, three Republican and three Democratic senators, led by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., released a draft of a new “authorization for use of military force,” or AUMF.
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This would essentially give the executive branch post hoc approval for the ways presidents have used the 2001 AUMF to date. But what’s worse, the bill gives the president functionally unlimited power to add additional “associated forces” at will.These associated forces can be anyone that “the President determines,” as long as the president claims they are “a co-belligerent” with our previously named enemies, or were once a part of them. They also can be located in any country that the president names — meaning that once the president adds them to the list, any amount of force can be used there, from drones to all-out war.
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This is so bizarre that Anders believes, “This can’t possibly be constitutional. A Congress in 2018 can’t turn the power the Constitution gave to Congress over to the president in perpetuity.”
When I try to access the copy of the bill both The Intercept_ and CounterPunch link to, I get:
I can, however, not proceed to www.senate.gov, but receive the same warning. Is this a temporary error, or does the US Senate knowingly prohibit access to its web site from outside the United States?
I am reminded that Tim Kaine, one of the bill’s sponsors, was Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential candidate. I remember telling people I wasn’t sure whether I thought Clinton or Trump would be a more dangerous president.
Update a couple hours later: I exchanged e-mails with a pleasant webmaster at the Senate, and can now access the site. One wonders what the security protocol is…
