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House Fixes Anti-Libya Bill

Jack Goldsmith
Thursday, June 23, 2011, 3:38 AM
The Anti-Libya Bill the House of Representatives will consider is here.  The Bill would cut off all funds for the Libya intervention except for specified support operations.  Unlike the Resolution floated earlier (described here), this Bill avoids the Chadha problem and clearly prohibits the air attacks (drones and otherwis

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The Anti-Libya Bill the House of Representatives will consider is here.  The Bill would cut off all funds for the Libya intervention except for specified support operations.  Unlike the Resolution floated earlier (described here), this Bill avoids the Chadha problem and clearly prohibits the air attacks (drones and otherwise) that the Obama administration believes do not amount to “hostilities” under the War Powers Resolution.  The Bill also appears to cut off funding for “electronic warfare assistance” in Libya, a method of support described on page 13 of last week’s White House Report to Congress but not included in the Bill's exceptions for support operations.

Jack Goldsmith is the Learned Hand Professor at Harvard Law School, co-founder of Lawfare, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Before coming to Harvard, Professor Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.

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