Rachel Maddow can't believe it.
Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee passed, at long last, a resolution ending the Authorization for Use of Military Force, a blank check given by the Congress to the President (Bush, Obama, Trump) to do whatever he wanted regarding the fight against al Queda/ISIS/Syria/Afghanistan wherever.
It is a total dereliction of duty by the cowardly Congress to give war powers to the executive instead of taking responsibility for funding an endless war in the middle east.
Rachel Maddow showed the members of the committee applauding their own vote. Yeah.
Of course there are plenty of war hawks and military lobbyist pets resistant to cutting off the money spigot. The Hill has the details:
Despite the applause, it is unclear whether it will make it past the Senate and be included in a final version of a defense spending bill. The amendment would revoke the 2001 AUMF after 240 days following the passing of the act, forcing Congress to vote on a new AUMF in the interim.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee said the AUMF amendment "should have been ruled out of order" because the Appropriations panel does not have jurisdiction.
“House Rules state that ‘a provision changing existing law may not be reported in a general appropriation bill.’ The Foreign Affairs Committee has sole jurisdiction over Authorizations for the Use of Military Force,” said Cory Fritz, the Foreign Affairs panel's deputy staff director for communications.
