VoteVets and Concerned Veterans for America have come together to push for changes that would end forever wars and limit Trump’s unilateral war powers.

The New York Times reported:

Will Fischer, then the director of government relations for VoteVets, the liberal political action committee, was tapped to face off with Dan Caldwell, the executive director of the conservative Concerned Veterans for America. It was a continuation of a yearslong and contentious dialogue over veterans issues, including disputes over health care, which candidates care more about matters important to veterans, as well as their dueling views on the nefarious nature of the Republican or Democratic parties.

But then the two found an unanticipated policy bridge, and have now gone on to work together to persuade Congress to finally revoke authorizations of military force passed after Sept. 11, 2001, which both believe have been bent and stretched to justify wars far beyond Congress’s intentions nearly two decades ago.

…

Lawmakers in each party have already demonstrated an increasing desire to curb Mr. Trump’s decisions in Syria, Yemen and beyond. The large increase of veterans in the House, matched with the firepower behind these two organizations on both ends of the political spectrum, means that lawmakers who have long pushed for changes to the authorizations believe their time has come.

The 2001 AUMF was one of Congress’s biggest mistakes/h1>

The 2001 authorization to use military force was rushed through Congress in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. The authorization is too broad and has been used presidents in ways that were never intended. War powers need to be returned back to Congress. This point is a rare area of bipartisan agreement among Republicans and Democrats, but Congress has struggled to agree on how to deal with the problem.
The ability of the veterans groups to come together in a bipartisan way should make it easier for Congress to do the same.

There is also a lesson here in the unintended consequences of giving up authority to the executive branch that Congress should be aware of as Trump has attempted a power grab with his national emergency. When the legislative branch cedes power to the executive, it can be difficult to nearly impossible to get that power back.

Congress has been trying for nearly two decades to right the wrong of the 2001 AUMF.

The answer might be found in two veterans groups who agree on little but both stand together behind the ideas that forever wars must end, and that a check is needed on the president’s war-making powers.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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