Bob Casey says Congress needs to make the AUMF a priority after Niger attacks

Sen. Bob Casey said Monday that Congress needs to make the Authorization for Use of Military Force a priority after the attack in Niger.

“I think there’s a lot of work that both parties, and both branches of government, need to do not only to stay more informed, but to focus on why we’re there, what happened, to get to the bottom of this,” Mr. Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, said on CNN. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“I’ve called for an AUMF since 2014, back in the Obama years,” he added.

Mr. Casey said many members of Congress didn’t know there were troops, or at least how many troops, were stationed in Niger. He said that lapsing on the AUMF has left many members of Congress out of the loop on military matters, which he said needs to change.

He praised members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for taking up a debate on the AUMF, and the Senate Armed Services Committee who plan to investigate the tragedy itself.

The ambush attack in Niger resulted in the deaths of four U.S. soldiers earlier this month. The exact circumstances are still being investigated.