Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he supports the measure but would like to reconsider it in a few months.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he supports the measure but would like to reconsider it in a few months. Flickr user Lingjing Bao/Talk Radio News Service

Senate Likely to Pass Bill Keeping Government Open

Measure is the beginning of a tougher conversation that will wait until after Election Day.

It's the Senate's turn now to vote on keeping the government open and authorizing the White House's request to train moderate Syrian rebels. But the measure, though expected to pass smoothly, is merely the beginning of a much tougher conversation that will wait until after Election Day.

The House approved a stopgap spending bill Wednesday on a bipartisan 319-108 vote, after a 273-156 tally in favor of adding the language on Syria. A Senate vote is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, as members chafe to return to their states to campaign ahead of the midterm elections.

A broader debate over whether to hand President Obama authorization to use military force in Iraq and Syria is likely to come in December. Wednesday's action in the House, where 85 Democrats—more than 40 percent of the caucus—and 71 Republicans opposed the narrower authorization to arm and train rebels, suggests the next fight could be more difficult for the White House.

Although House members were able to vote separately on the continuing resolution to keep the government's doors open and the Syria authorization, they sent the two measures to the Senate as a single package, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the No. 3 Democrat, said Wednesday that the Senate is very likely to deal with both issues in a single vote.

Overall, if approved by the Senate, the bill would keep money flowing to federal agencies after the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year, through Dec. 11, at the current annualized spending level of $1.012 trillion. The stopgap measure is needed because the House and Senate have not agreed on any of the 12 annual spending bills for fiscal 2015.

Senators and aides expect the package to pass with majorities on both sides, but the question of arming and vetting Syrian rebels has produced some discomfort for both Democrats and Republicans. Liberals are questioning the potential for escalation in the use of force in Syria, while conservatives object to the president's overall strategy.

In order to attract both groups, the Syria authorization was very deliberately and very tightly knit together to give the president the authority he desires, while, for the time being, ruling out a ground war and putting a strict time limit on that authority. The authorization, like the continuing resolution, will expire on Dec. 11.

That feature in particular won the support of Republican leadership.

"I particularly like the fact that the Syria authorizing legislation sunsets with the expiration of the CR or the passage of the defense authorization bill," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "What's good about that is even though—again, speaking for myself—I support what the president's doing, I'd like to take another look at it a couple of months from now and see how it's working out."

Senior lawmakers are predicting that a war authorization will emerge as an important issue, likely when Congress moves to approve a bill authorizing the defense budget for 2015.

"This issue will be taken up in the NDAA," said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan. Levin suggested that the language in the House package could simply be extended, or that lawmakers may include an authorization for the use of military force, which could involve airstrikes.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez said last week that his committee would begin drafting an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, one that, members on both sides say, is likely to be a major source of contention during the lame duck.

Senate Democrats who had opposed the authorization for the use of force in Iraq as House members are wary of voting to OK a military incursion in Syria. Nonetheless, they say they'll back the continuing resolution that includes the authorization to train Syrian rebels.

"I think it is very important that Congress take up an authorization for the use of military force," said Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland. "What we're doing in the CR is clearly not for the authorization of the use of force. It says that specifically."

Although there is widespread support for considering an AUMF, passage looks to be another story.

Already, on just the authorization to arm and train Syrian rebels, Senate leaders have lost a handful of votes on both sides, over concerns about the U.S.'s ability to vet Syrian opposition fighters and the potential scope of the nation's involvement in yet another Middle Eastern conflict. They include conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Republicans Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who are working to brand themselves on foreign policy ahead of potential White House campaigns. (By contrast, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, another potential 2016 candidate, says he's a likely yea).

On the House side, Wednesday's votes followed an afternoon of intense floor debate. The president's Syria proposal was described alternately as either a limited use of military assistance to vet, arm, and train moderate Syrian rebels to combat a barbaric force—or an ill-planned strategy that threatens to plunge the U.S. deep into a sectarian war.

"This is an amendment and a debate to start yet another war in the Middle East, with a very uncertain future," said Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California.

"Look at Iraq. Look at Libya," added freshman Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, an Iraq War veteran, fearful that recent hard lessons have not been learned about such intervention.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was among those who argued that the U.S. cannot ignore ISIS and the "genocide of religious minorities." She emphasized that the training will occur outside of Syria, and noted: "This is not an authorization of use of military force. I do not support, nor will I support, combat troops on the ground. That is not what this is about."

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy added, "A threat that has been ignored for too long must no longer be tolerated." And Majority Whip Steve Scalise said, "Americans know this is something that ultimately we will have to confront if we do not address it now with swift action."

"This will not do everything," said the amendment's sponsor, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon. "But it is an important step at this time … to give the commander in chief the authority he needs to protect us in this area."

Pelosi and Speaker John Boehner insisted they had not pressured their members to vote either way on the Syria amendment.

But there was much angling behind the scenes, including the coupling of the president's Syria request with a must-pass spending bill. In addition, a combination of pressures and cajoling from the president and his administration on Democrats, and warnings by former Vice President Dick Cheney against growing isolationist trends in the GOP, helped pave the way for its passage.

Unrelated provisions in the spending bill also attracted votes. Among them is a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank to prevent it from shuttering on Oct. 1, even if its nine-month renewal was far shorter than supporters pushed for.

But it was the Syria amendment that so split Republicans from other Republicans, and Democrats from others in their own party.

Several of the amendment's opponents said they supported airstrikes and other counterterrorism measures. But they noted that Syria is a nation in the midst of a complex civil war, pitting Shia and Sunni, authoritarians and al-Qaida, and other groups.

"I don't see how we are going to be able to thread the needle by arming the good guys without making the bad guys stronger, as well," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.

Rachel Roubein contributed to this article.

(Image via Flickr user Lingjing Bao/Talk Radio News Service)

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.