6/21/2017

DEFENSE/MILITARY/TRUMP PEOPLE/JAMES MATTIS: “Congress is considering placing new limits on the Trump administration’s war-making powers as the White House delegates key decisions on military action to the Pentagon.
Democrats and some key Republicans say they’re alarmed that President Donald Trump has delegated the decision to set troop levels in Afghanistan to his defense secretary, James Mattis, particularly when the administration has yet to outline its larger strategy for the longest war in US history.
And the US military’s shooting down of a Syrian government jet on Sunday has injected new urgency for advocates in Congress who want to pass an authorization for use of military force against ISIS — which could at the same time limit military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Lawmakers say that the escalating military action in Syria — including the jet shootdown, commanders’ increased authority to take military action and Trump’s decision in April to launch missile strikes against government targets — underscores the need for Congress to reassert its constitutional authority to authorize war.”

-Jeremy Herb, “As White House defers to Pentagon, Congress mulls new checks on military power,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 21, 2017 01:32pm