Defense

The House Rules Committee met at 6:20 p.m. to quickly approve a rule for S. 990, which will extend Patriot Act surveillance authorities until June 1, 2015.

The rule allows for one hour of debate on the bill, and it was approved by voice vote in a meeting that lasted about five minutes. Members adjourned and were moving to the floor to consider the rule and the bill, which must be approved tonight if Congress is to avoid a lapse in Patriot Act authorities.

Earlier in the week, Rules approved a measure allowing the House to consider the extension on the House floor immediately after a rule was approved. The committee met Thursday night to approve a rule for the bill itself.

—This story was updated at 6:28 p.m.

The House Thursday morning passed four en bloc amendments to the NDAA by voice, and by 12:30 p.m. was beginning a series of votes on specific amendments.

Details on the amendments can be found here, and descriptions of the en bloc packages follow.

Freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) on Thursday morning said he wants President Obama to seek congressional authority for continued military operations in Libya.

In a C-SPAN interview, West said he agrees that the War Powers Act gives the executive branch the authority to commit troops for 60 days without congressional approval, but said that window has elapsed.

The House returns Thursday at 10 a.m. to finish work on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This involves debate on just seven more amendments, plus four en bloc amendments.

One amendment to be debated Thursday is from Reps. James McGovern (D-Mass.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and others that would require the Defense Department to establish a plan for the "accelerated transition of military operations to Afghan authorities."

The House Wednesday night debated amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) until about 11 p.m. and considered several key amendments, although votes on these amendments were planned for Thursday.

Before adjourning just after 11 p.m., House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said members need to consider just seven more amendments on Thursday, plus four en bloc amendments. Members are scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday to continue this work.

Two amendments related to terrorist detainees were debated in the Wednesday night session. One from Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) would allow the transfer of detainees into the U.S. in order to testify in federal court. Democrats generally have argued this would give the government the option of taking testimony, while Republicans have argued that Americans don't want these detainees brought onto U.S. soil.

As of 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, the following is a list of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendments that have been adopted by voice vote. This lists amendments as ordered by the House Rules Committee (see this listing here for more details).

The House on Wednesday afternoon approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that says the U.S. Congress has not authorized military actions in Libya. Adoption of the amendment, from Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), was done by voice vote that also approved about a dozen other amendments.

Garrett's amendment is short, and simply states: "Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be construed to authorize military operations in Libya." It was approved after a brief debate in which only Garrett addressed his amendment.

Senate delays on the vote means the House will likely be in session Friday, delaying start of Memorial Day recess.

House Democrats on Wednesday again protested language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that they say is an open-ended congressional approval for military operations against terrorist groups around the world.

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) raised a point of order shortly after noon in order to argue against the language, which he called an "unbelievably broad opportunity that this House should never give to any president at any time." This point of order was quickly dismissed by voice vote, but several amendments dealing with his concern will be debated Wednesday and/or Thursday.

Republicans from the House and Senate have introduced resolutions declaring that the Obama administration has exceeded its authority under the War Powers Act by keeping U.S. troops engaged in Libya for more than 60 days.

The House resolution, H.Con.Res. 53, was introduced Tuesday by Rep. Scot Garrett (R-NJ). The Senate resolution, S.J.Res. 14, was introduced Monday by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and was placed on the Senate calendar Tuesday night.