The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and a massive government-wide spending bill passed just before Christmas both approved $1.6 billion requested by the White House to arm and prepare Iraqi forces to fight the violent Sunni group.
The administration's request for the extra funding came late in the year, just weeks before a compromise Pentagon policy bill and a modified omnibus "cromnibus" appropriations bill moved through both chambers.
In a Dec. 19 statement issued after Obama signed the 2015 NDAA, the president highlighted lawmakers' approval of the train-and-equip program.
"I have signed this annual defense authorization legislation because it will provide vital benefits for military personnel and their families, as well as critical contingency authorities needed to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to respond to emerging needs in the face of evolving terrorist threats and emergent crises worldwide," Obama said.
Members from both parties for months have questioned whether the White House's strategy for combating the Islamic State will be enough to eventually defeat the group.
Some senior Pentagon officials say it could it likely will likely take up to three years to completely beat down the group, which is a hybrid military-terrorist organization-tax collecting government.
But an increasing number of GOP lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, say the job could require up to 10,000 American troops.
And incoming Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said some Democrats also are frustrated with the White House's plans.
Such concerns are reflected in a provision within the NDAA that would limit most of the Iraq train-and-equip funds until the White House gives lawmakers more information about its plans to fight the group.
Congress will withhold 75 percent of the $1.6 billion until the Obama administration delivers two reports to Capitol Hill two reports.
One will come from the Pentagon. It will detail plans about "providing such assistance and re-training and re-equipping the Iraqi security forces," states a House-Senate report accompanying the final NDAA.
The other will come from the West Wing. This report must spell out "how such assistance fits within a broader regional strategy."
Mandating those kinds of reports before money is ies are released is commonplace in Washington, and shows lawmakers' willingness to use the power of the purse to oversee America's latest war. Still, withholding 75 percent of a fund that is a central piece of a war plan is significant.
The legislation, crafted by senior members and aides of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, also sends a signal to the administration: The coming plans should show the White House's intent to help Iraq's Kurds.
"We note the significant contribution that Kurdish security forces have made to countering [the Islamic State's] advance. We understand that the administration's plan includes assistance to train and equip three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga," states the joint House-Senate language. "Accordingly, we expect that a significant portion of the assistance under this authority will be provided to meet the requirements of the Kurdish security forces and urge the secretary of defense to ensure that such assistance is delivered in a timely manner to such forces."
Email: jbennett@defensenews.com.
