July 12, 2018

Duckworth Votes Against Paul Ney to be U.S. Department of Defense General Counsel

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator and Combat Veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after voting against Paul Ney to be the next General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense:

“For too long, Congress has stood idly by as Presidents seized more and more war powers, even though the Constitution clearly vests in Congress the responsibility to declare war, establish our Armed Forces and do everything necessary and proper to defend our nation. The people of Illinois elected me to debate and vote on life and death matters concerning when, where and how we take military action. That’s why, despite my respect for Mr. Ney’s willingness to serve, I could not vote to support a nominee who is willing to offer legal advice empowering a President to act more like an emperor than a Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Ney’s opposition to any Authorization for Use of Military Force that contains limits on time, location and means was also disqualifying. Those opinions are not consistent with the Constitution’s separation of powers and opens the door to justifications of unlimited, unilateral military action.”

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