OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: WH expects lame duck ‘progress’ on ISIS measure

THE TOPLINE: White House chief of staff Denis McDonough on Wednesday detailed the administration’s priorities for the lame duck session, including progress on authorizing military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“We want to make some progress on AUMF [authorization for use of military force] during this period,” McDonough said after a meeting in the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

{mosads}President Obama has said he already has legal authority to fight the terror group, but would request a more narrow measure tailored toward approving the anti-ISIS campaign.

The president faces pressure from some in his own party who want a vote quickly during the lame duck session. But House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other top Republicans believe a vote should wait until the next Congress is sworn in.

It is unclear if lawmakers will take up military authorization during the crowded lame duck session.

McDonough also pressed Reid to move as many of Obama’s nominees as possible and urged Democrats to pass an omnibus spending bill instead of a short-term funding measure, including money for the Ebola response.

“We really want to make sure that we get our nominations, so we can undertake all these important efforts that we’re leading across the globe,” McDonough told reporters.

 

FAULT LINES ON ISIS VOTE: Lawmakers back in Washington on Wednesday after the midterm elections remain starkly divided on whether to vote on authorization for force against ISIS in the lame duck or next year.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the Foreign Relations panel, called on his colleagues to move on an authorization before the year is out.

He said it would be the “height of public immorality” to continue the military campaign without congressional approval.

“There’s no need to extend this questionable war another five or six months,” he said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Kaine warned that if Congress doesn’t hold an authorization vote, he and other critics would “absolutely” offer motions of disapproval in the Senate to “get in the way” and “stop a war.”

“If we, after 13 years of war, have not learned enough to have this discussion seriously, then God help us,” he said.

But Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the vote needed to be delayed to the next Congress because it is “such a major decision” that will have “long-term” implications.

“I think the next Congress is the one that needs to debate that and vote on it,” the retiring lawmaker said.

A top Democrat also said that any authorization should explicitly state that new funding to fight ISIS cannot be used for combat operations

“The president has said they’re not for combat operations, but a lot of us would like to see that in the law,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

 

LAWMAKERS THREATEN IRAN SANCTIONS: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are warning the Obama administration that they will “act decisively” on Iran sanctions legislation if they don’t approve of a potential nuclear deal.

“As co-authors of bipartisan sanctions laws that compelled Iran to the negotiating table, we believe that a good deal will dismantle, not just stall, Iran’s illicit nuclear program and prevent Iran from ever becoming a threshold nuclear weapons state,” they said in a statement on Wednesday.

“If a potential deal does not achieve these goals, we will work with our colleagues in Congress to act decisively, as we have in the past,” they added.

Menendez and Kirk said a deal should require “stringent limits on nuclear-related research, development and procurement,” and for Iran to come clean on all “possible military dimension issues.”

Any agreement should also include a “robust inspection and verification regime for decades,” to prevent Iran from covertly becoming a nuclear power, they continued.

“Gradual sanctions relaxation would only occur if Iran strictly complied with all parts of the agreement,” they said.

The pair unveiled sanctions legislation earlier in the year, winning support from lawmakers in both parties. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) refused to allow a vote amid opposition from the White House, which warned the bill would derail nuclear talks with Iran.

Representatives from the P5+1 group — the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany — have until Nov. 24 to negotiate a deal with Iran that would curb the country’s nuclear arms program.

Any agreement is likely to face scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where many believe Iran is trying to stall international action while it continues its nuclear program.

 

DOD URGES CONGRESS TO STOP CUTS: Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work urged lawmakers to overturn sequestration, warning that the $500 billion in cuts over 10 years would leave troops less able to fight wars.

“It would be unconscionable to send American troops into a fight where they are not adequately trained and equipped,” Work said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

His comments come as defense officials put together their 2016 budget request.

Work said the cuts had hurt readiness in each military branch. He said Air Force’s fighter and bomber squadrons lacked sufficient high-end training, thousands of Army soldiers have never had combined-arms maneuver training, six of 10 Navy aircraft carriers are under maintenance, and Marines can’t train on amphibious skills because of a ship shortage.

Work also asked Congress to stop resisting cuts to defense programs the Pentagon is seeking in an effort to shield their districts or constituents.

He said the Air Force needed to retire the A-10 fighter jet or it would hurt plans to maintain the more advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Lawmakers have pushed back at the Pentagon’s plans to retire the jet.

The Navy needs to take half its cruiser fleet out of service temporarily, troop pay and benefits need to be reformed, and bases need to be closed, he added.

Lawmakers partially relieved the Pentagon cuts in 2014 and 2015, but it is unclear whether they will return in full, as currently scheduled, in 2016. 

Experts and some lawmakers expect the cuts will be partially relieved again for another two years. 

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 

— Key Republican: Short-term funding bill would be ‘mistake’

— McCain says Obama’s ISIS strategy reminds him of Vietnam

— US, China see little progress on cybersecurity

— US investigating attack on sailors in Turkey

— GOP: Obama playing catch-up on Ebola

 

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