TerrorismRyan examining congressional authorization of war against ISIS

Published 8 January 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has instructed the House majority leader and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to begin discussions with House members about whether a measure which would authorize war against ISIS would be likely to be supported by a majority of House members. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), and many other Republicans in Congress, question the need for such a measure.

Congressional war authorization against ISIS sought // Source: northeastern.edu

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has instructed the House majority leader and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to begin discussions with House members about whether a measure which would authorize war against ISIS would be likely to be supported by a majority of House members. The New York Times reports that Ryan has come to believe that Congress should exercise its constitutional role on this important issue – but this is not a view shared by Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), and it is also questioned by many other Republicans in Congress.

Those who do not want to see Congress vote to authorize a war against ISIS say that the president already has the authority to do so.

Ryan said on Thursday that he had instructed Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-California), the majority leader, and Representative Ed Royce (R-California), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, to begin “the process of gathering ideas and having listening sessions with our members about whether and how we could do” an authorization for use of military force.

There are a handful of Republicans who support Ryan’s view. “When we send troops into battle, they need to know that they have the full backing of the government,” Representative Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview last month.