Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) delayed the passage of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday over an amendment that aims to block troop drawdowns in Afghanistan.
The amendment would block funds to bring troops out of Afghanistan until the Pentagon, State Department, and the director of national intelligence submit a report to Congress about how the drawdown would affect US security.
The assessment would be required as soon as the NDAA becomes law. Assessments would also be required when troop numbers go below 4,000, and again at 2,000. The Trump administration is currently executing a plan to bring numbers down to 2,500 by January 15th.
Senator Paul railed against the amendment on the Senate floor. “They believe that a president has the power to go to war anywhere anytime,” he said of the bill’s supporters. “But when a president tries to remove troops, they say ‘Oh no no. What we really want are 535 generals in Congress to tell him he can’t leave a war.’ How absurd is that?”
Paul warned that the bill would set “a very dangerous precedent for limiting a President’s power to end war.” Delaying a vote on the bill could lead to a government shutdown, as Congress was hoping to quickly pass the NDAA so they can vote on a stopgap spending bill to fund the government for another week. Paul said he would drop his objection if the Senate agrees to allow a final vote on the NDAA on Monday.
President Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA, mainly because it does not include a provision to repeal a law that gives tech platforms immunity from liability over the content published by third party users. The House passed the NDAA with a veto-proof majority on Tuesday.
This is so disgusting! Will see how Congress reacts when China becomes the worlds super power and USA joins Britain as a has been, and at the same time the USA goes broke and it various political, racial, and sexual groups go at each other with very bad intentions,,and as the “social safety net” implodes from a nothing economy! What a ride!!! How in the F### have we ever let it get to this point? 🙁
Cronyism and endemic corruption, that is how. We pay no attention to tightly knit plutocracy that invaded from the inside all institutions of governance.
Those plutocracies are linked by bonds of special or generic common interests often including bonds of ethnicity.
The laws are lax and all caution thrown to the wind — allowing those special interests to put forward the best organized, the best funded and staffed lobbying organizations.
There is no such thing as public interest any more. Institutions of elected governing have been permanently leased to those interests. And it is even worse in bureaucracy of governing. Can one be hired in any position of decision-making without being vetted by special interests? No. This applies to State Department, Pentagon, Intelligence, Homeland Security, Treasury, and most secretariats. And worst of all — segments of the apparatus of governance have been PRIVATIZED, meaning that private sector makes decisions in those areas while we PAY THEM TO DO IT. Intelligence agencies come to mind.
It is too late to do something about it, unless the electorate starts routinely tossing out ALL elected officials after one term. Toss babies out with the bathwater. Until they get the point, and legislate endemic corruption out of the system.
If these people in Congress do not wake up, presidential elections are just a show.
They could start by eliminating dual citizenship from the government. Prohibit from government paying jobs anyone who has a history of lobbying for a foreign government. And any history of being payed directly or indirectly by any private interest for lobbying on their behalf. Prohibit lobbyists from drafting legislation. Return civil service protection to government administration to eliminate influence over hiring and firing.
We have gone a long way down hill. And we the citizens bear the responsibility. We have joyfully participated in every deregulation, abandoned conservative caution, and allowed corruption to flourish in “liberated” private heaven.
Now they are after police — let us privatize them! And after public schools where teachers are still allowed to teach critical thinking without fearing persecution. Privatize that — and majority of our school population would not qualify for higher education. World will be safe for the children of privilege.
It in many ways already is. This is partially why we are falling back in science and technology. Arguing with China may not fix our problems, but will DEFINITELY bring to light the reality.
Bianca, I get your point……………………………:)
They show their true colours by making it easy for a president to go to war but not to wind any down. It should be the other way around.
the amerikan personality fully revealed—-liars and hypocrites
Good for Paul. Now, PLEASE, someone bitch about the $740 billion. And the QME.
Hmmm
This is unquestionably an attempt to do an end run around the explicit Constitutional authority granted the President as Commander in Chief of the Military. And in the process it literally will cripple the US Defense posture and thus severely undermine the day to day security of the United States and its citizenry.
“Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war. The President, meanwhile, derives the power to direct the military at all times, whether or not there is a formal declaration of war, from Article II, Section 2, which names the President Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces”
No where is there evidence that the founding fathers intended that the Federal Army be run by the Congress thus reducing the position of Commander in Chief to one dictated by the whims, contradictions and partisan squabbles inherent in every Legislative “committee”, especially those in Congress.