If House Speaker John Boehner didn't kill efforts to legally authorize the Islamic State conflict, he took away its medication. The patient appears on a glide path to a slow death.
"The president's request for an authorization of the use of military force [AUMF] calls for less authority than he has today," Boehner told reporters last week. "It's irresponsible. This is why the president ... should withdraw the authorization of use of military force and start over."
Late last year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hastily crafted and approved an AUMF. Then-Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., ran out of time to get a floor vote — and the Democratic-crafted one was likely headed nowhere in the Republican-controlled House anyway.
The White House in February submitted its own version to lawmakers, which they roundly hated. Since, there has been much hand-wringing and tough talk, but zero action toward actual legislation.
Rep. Adam Schiff has taken the AUMF baton in the House. The Californian is ranking member of the Permanent Select Intelligence Committee and a Nancy Pelosi ally, so he has sway. But he's also a Democrat in a very Republican chamber.
A Schiff aide says, "Our educated guess is it will have to start in Senate Foreign Relations, and it will be more important for their members to hammer something out to get the ball rolling."
But new Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., sounds pessimistic about finding enough common ground among Republicans and Democrats to craft something that would get bipartisan support.
"What I don't want to do is send a message to our allies or our enemies that somehow the nation is divided over [the Islamic State] — because [it's] not," Corker said recently.
If the AUMF is to avoid death, perhaps one of the most Washington of moves can save it: The creation of a "Gang of Four." (Or maybe six. More on that later.)
GOP Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma also has been outspoken about the need to pass a new AUMF. "I'm very much in favor of picking up the issue and doing it," he told me May 20.
The deputy House GOP whip is right when he says leadership must bless any effort to craft an AUMF. So far, Boehner has merely criticized what President Obama submitted.
But a Gang of Four might be something Boehner could get behind. The same is true for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Both talk about "regular order." While creating gangs of deal-making lawmakers to focus on tough issues doesn't happen every day, it happens often enough.
If Boehner, McConnell and their Democratic counterparts really want to pass a new AUMF, whatever the Gang came up with might be their best bet.
Corker and Cole could represent the GOP. Democrats could appoint Schiff and Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Ben Cardin of Maryland or even Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. (If six is a more palatable number, Boehner and McConnell could add Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce of California to that list.)
Cole said members have two options: "Either craft our own, or act on his," referring to the president's version. The Gang could determine which option is most feasible and guide their colleagues down that path.
John T. Bennett is the senior congressional reporter for Defense News.
Email: jbennett@defensenews.com
Twitter: @BennettJohnT
