NDAA: “Diplomatic and Military Channels of deconfliction with Iran to “prevent miscalculation”
Since May 2019, U.S. – Iran tensions have escalated significantly, but have not erupted into armed conflict. The Trump Administration, following its 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), has taken several steps in its campaign of applying “maximum pressure” on Iran.
Although Presidents have long asserted wide-ranging authority to unilaterally initiate the use of military force, no legislation has been enacted authorizing the use of force against Iran, and several measures include provisions specifying that such authorization is not being granted. For instance, Section 9026 of Division C of H.R. 2740 (the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2020), as engrossed in the House on June 19, 2019, would state that “Nothing in this Act may be construed as authorizing the use of force against Iran.” H.R. 2500, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2020, as reported in the House on June 19, 2019, contains a similar provision (Section 1225). On July 12, 2019, the House also passed, by a vote of 251-170, an amendment to H.R. 2500 that would prohibit funding for the use of force against Iran, with provisions clarifying that such a prohibition would not prevent the President from using necessary and appropriate force to defend U.S. allies and partners, consistent with the War Powers Resolution. Neither provision was included in the conference report, as passed by the House in December 2019.
Section 1227 of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1790), which has been reported out by the conference committee on the legislation and passed by the House, would require an Administration report to Congress on diplomatic and military channels of deconfliction with Iran to “prevent miscalculation” that could “lead to unintended consequences, including unnecessary or harmful military activity.”
Source: Congressional Research Service
