There was a bipartisan backlash after President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes in Syria last week.
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“I’m unhappy I had to hear about it on the news, and, I’m on the key committees,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia). “Eighty percent of us weren’t even in Congress when it passed, and it’s been used by presidents to do all kinds of things that never would’ve been contemplated.”
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Kaine has long argued, through three administrations, that Congress does have an urgent role when it comes to war-making, and there should be a debate and there should be a vote.
“I’ve been consistent, whether the President has been a Republican or a Democrat,” he said. “President Obama is a friend. But I felt so strongly about this that I’ll speak up against a friend if we’re not doing it right.”
Kaine continued: “This is why you ought to have consultation and agreement. Because, if you don’t, unilateral action — even seemingly narrow — can lead to an escalation and get you in a war you shouldn’t be in.”
Kaine and Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) have reintroduced a bill to repeal the old authorizations.
After that, Kaine says, a new authorization would have to be crafted in the Senate Foreign Relations Committees. And then, that document would have to be incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act.
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