Congress tries to tackle Islamic State before midterm elections
A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Sept. 8
Congress has a packed schedule as it seeks to make its mark on the Obama administration’s strategy for dealing with the Islamic State (IS) before leaving town for the November midterm elections.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have declared their intention to pass some sort of war authorization allowing President Barack Obama to continue bombing IS in Iraq or start doing so in Syria. Time is quickly running out, however, with the House set to head out in two weeks until Nov. 12, if it can get a short-term spending bill done by then.
House staffers got an early start on Friday with a briefing by members of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center. Al-Monitor spotted top aides to House Foreign Affairs Committee leaders Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., as well as staff to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. — but no lawmakers; all were tight-lipped about the classified briefing.
Members of the House Intelligence panel will be the first to receive a post-summer update on Monday, their first day back, as well as another on Thursday. The House Armed Services Committee meanwhile will get its own briefing Tuesday morning, a committee aide told Al-Monitor.
