Congress
683 Articles

Think Again: The Limitations in the President’s Draft AUMF Do Have Meaning
Several prominent commentators have argued that the limitations in President Obama’s draft AUMF against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) would be meaningless if…

Sens. Cardin and Murphy Offer Up Bill to Sunset 2001 AUMF
Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced legislation today to sunset the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against al-Qaeda. This comes…

Obama’s Forever War Starts Now
Ed Note. This piece also appears in Foreign Policy. When President Barack Obama announced the start of a U.S.-led bombing campaign in Iraq against the Islamic State on Aug. 7,…

Key Questions for Today’s Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing With Nicholas Rasmussen
Sen Richard Burr (R-NC), the new chair of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, has announced that he plans to hold a public committee hearing this afternoon. This is welcome…

Don’t Overvalue a Sunset in the AUMF: Start Talking About the Conditions When Wars Could End
More than six months after American bombs started falling in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama has finally submitted his proposal for authorizing the military campaign targeting…

Video of How to End the Forever War and Fight ISIL: Q&A with Harold Koh
How can the United States wind down operations in Afghanistan responsibly? Is there likely to be an end to “armed conflict” with al Qaeda anytime soon? What role does…

White House Sends Proposed ISIL AUMF to Congress (full text)
Today, the White House is sending a proposed draft of an Islamic State-specific authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) to Congress. Expect more on this in the days…

Global Magnitsky Act Re-Introduced
Senators Bill Cardin (D-Md) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have re-introduced the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (S. 284) aimed at expanding the U.S.’s efforts…

Schiff Introduces Updated Proposal for AUMF to Fight the Islamic State
Earlier today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced a new proposal for a limited authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State. Though largely…

Boehner Invites Bibi: A Closer Look at Historical Practice
As many have noted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to Congress is intriguing because of the process by which it was arranged: House Speaker John…

Assessing (Again) the Defensive Operations in Syria
The military operations against the Islamic State and Khorasan group in Syria have already received a lot of attention among international lawyers. The conversation has focused…

The Latest Rules on How Long NSA Can Keep Americans’ Encrypted Data Look Too Familiar
Does the National Security Agency (NSA) have the authority to collect and keep all encrypted Internet traffic for as long as is necessary to decrypt that traffic? That was a question…