Congress plans new challenge to president’s war powers amid Syria pullout

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., is looking for allies on her latest push to end the 2001 war authorization that the Donald Trump administration uses to fight terrorism in the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces missile strikes on Syria while delivering a statement in front of portrait of President George Washington at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - HP1EE4E04JFDA
US President Donald Trump announces missile strikes on Syria while delivering a statement in front of a portrait of President George Washington at the White House in Washington, April 13, 2018. - REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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Jack Detsch
@JackDetsch_ALM

Congress is set to mount a fresh challenge to President Donald Trump’s war authorities just weeks after he announced that US troops would leave Syria.

Progressive Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California is looking for co-sponsors on legislation to sunset the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force within eight months. If enacted, the bill would force the Pentagon to seek new legal clearance to fight in Iraq and Syria, for instance.

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