GOP-controlled House committee amends post-9/11 policy weakening president's authorized 'use of force'

The House GOP made the surprising move on Thursday to amend a post-9/11 law that makes presidential authorization of military force simple and streamlined.

The Authorized Use of Military Force was passed a few days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and it's short text allows the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."

The only person to oppose the bill in either chamber of Congress was Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and her amendment to the bill was surprisingly passed on Thursday by the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee. The new amendment will repeal the AUMF after the Defense Department's appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018.

The left-of-field move was all the more surprising, a ThinkProgress report states, because Rep. Lee is known for being one of the most liberal members of Congress. All the same, all but one member of the 52-person committee voted in favor of repealing the AUMF.