Boehner: Lame-duck session wrong time to debate war authorization

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says debating authorization of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) during the lame-duck session would be the wrong approach. 

“Doing this with a whole group of members who are on their way out the door, I don’t think that is the right way to handle this,” he told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday. 

{mosads}Other Republicans have expressed similar reservations about taking up any substantial legislation in the brief session after the midterms, saying those lawmakers who lose reelection will have no accountability.   

Boehner told the newspaper he is open to expanding the campaign against ISIS and noted Congress “should speak” on the issue. 

“I would suggest to you that early next year, assuming that we continue in this effort, there may be that discussion and there may be that request from the president,” Boehner said. 

A number of Democrats, including House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), have called on the House to take up broader war authorization after the election. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) outlined a schedule for the lame-duck session last week, which included debate on a resolution authorizing military force. 

President Obama and the administration maintain they already have legal authorization for the current air campaign in Iraq and Syria, but Obama has welcomed a vote in Congress. 

Before adjourning last week, Congress granted Obama’s request for authorization to train and arm vetted Syrian rebels. 

The administration has cited the 2001 authorization of force against terrorists and a separate 2002 authorization in Iraq as legal justification for its current campaign.