Senate Dems fear Cotton amendment will sink war powers bill - POLITICO

The effort to block Cotton's amendment comes hours before the Senate is set to vote on the War Powers resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that would curb military action against Iran without approval from Congress.

The measure, as written, has support from at least five Senate Republicans, giving it the votes needed to pass by a simple majority. It's unclear whether those five Republican senators — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky — will support the Cotton amendment, which would grant the president vast authority to launch military operations around the world.

Young said Thursday he would oppose the amendment, adding: “In terms of the big picture, I want to make sure this resolution passes and that Congress finally does its darn job.” Kaine said Lee also opposes Cotton’s amendment.

A spokeswoman for Cotton defended the amendment as common sense.

“It says a lot about Democrats’ priorities if they consider allowing our troops to kill terrorists who threaten the United States a ‘poison pill,’” said Caroline Tabler, a spokeswoman for Cotton. “This amendment doesn’t authorize the use of force, it simply preserves the president’s authorities as commander-in-chief. It’s hard to see how that’s controversial.”

Kaine launched the effort more than a month ago, in the days following Trump’s order of an airstrike in Iraq that killed Qassim Soleimani, a top Iranian general. Trump opposes the War Powers measure, and on Wednesday he took to Twitter to urge senators to vote against it.

Senate GOP leaders also vehemently oppose the effort, which further exposes long-standing divisions among Republicans on foreign policy and national security issues.

Kaine’s resolution would require Trump to cease all hostilities targeting Iran within 30 days unless approved by Congress. The effort, spurred by the U.S. airstrike that killed Soleimani on Jan. 2, was on hold during the Senate’s three-week impeachment trial.

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

2020-02-13 15:39:00Z
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