WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan has ordered the House majority leader and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to begin talking to members about the feasibility of a measure that would authorize war against the Islamic State militant group.
Ryan's belief that Congress should exercise its constitutional role and institutional voice on matters of war puts him on a potential collision path with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and many other congressional Republicans. They argue that President Barack Obama already has the authority to wage war against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and they are loath to debate the issue in an election year.
But Ryan said Thursday that he had instructed Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the majority leader, and Rep. Ed Royce, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, to begin "the process of gathering ideas and having listening sessions with our members about whether and how we could do" an authorization for use of military force.
Royce, with many other lawmakers, has been reluctant to pursue an authorization. But he said that during the past month, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and California, he had seen a change of views among many lawmakers, and Thursday, he began to meet with committee members on the subject.
"As I've said before, if we can get an AUMF done that ensures our commanders have the flexibility they need to defeat ISIS, I want to move it," Royce said in a prepared statement, using an acronym for authorization for use of military force. "But ultimately, it is going to be up to President Obama to lead. Containment has failed. The administration already has the authority it needs to take the fight to these radical Islamist terrorists, and it needs to step up."
The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, said he welcomed the move but questioned whether Ryan could actually get the measure through the House.
"He has not made hardly any progress that anybody can detect in passing an authorization to use military force against ISIL," Earnest said.