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THE TOPLINE: Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that the White House's proposed ban on U.S. troops engaging in "enduring offensive ground combat operations" against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria meant "weeks and weeks of combat."
Kerry made the comments while defending the president's proposal for an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against ISIS. He said some U.S. troops could be embedded with Iraqi troops overnight, but argued this would not be in violation of the ban on enduring ground offensive operations.
"If you're going in for weeks and weeks of combat, that's enduring. If you're going in to assist somebody and fire control and you're embedded in an overnight deal, or you're in a rescue operation or whatever, that is not enduring," he said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the State Department's budget.
The debate on a new authorization is taking on more significance as the U.S. military prepares to help Iraqi and Kurdish forces attempt to retake Mosul -- Iraq's second largest city -- from ISIS as early as April or May.
Pentagon officials have said that a limited number of U.S. military advisers could accompany Iraqi forces into battle to retake Mosul.
The White House's request for military force has prompted criticism from Republicans who say the language is too restrictive and ties military commanders' hands, as well as from Democrats who say that it is too vague and could lead to another ground war.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) blasted the proposal at a later Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing where Kerry also testified on the State Department budget.
"I am not going to support this," she told Kerry. "It is as open-ended as you can imagine."
She added there was such a "giant loophole you can drive a combat truck through."
Kerry said at the earlier hearing that the language "left the president the appropriate level of discretion with respect to how he might need to do, without [any] room for interpretation that this was somehow being interpreted to be a new license for a new Afghanistan or a new Iraq."
Kerry said the language was designed to gain the most support from Congress.
"What we want is as large a vote as possible for Congress to say Daesh deserves to be defeated, and we're committed to the fight," he said, using a derogatory Arabic nickname for ISIS.
Some Democrats said Tuesday a new authorization for force should be in place before the Mosul offensive begins.
"Absolutely," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who introduced an AUMF measure last year. "The obvious reason, you need to show the country's united."
However, other Democrats said the administration would do what is needed regardless of a new authorization.
"We are already engaged with our airpower and our training activities and that's going to go forward. I think what's going to drive the activity in Iraq is what's happening on the ground, not legislatively. I mean, we have to continue to pursue this and support the Iraqi forces," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"It is [important], absolutely. I think it should be done properly, but I don't think given the fact we're already engaged and it's critical that we do so, that we cease the engagement until we get the AUMF," he said.
VA CHIEF APOLOGIZES FOR SPECIAL FORCES FLAP. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald apologized for recently embellishing a part of his military record.
"I made a mistake and I apologize for it," McDonald said during a press conference.
The former Procter and Gamble CEO is on shaky ground after he admitted he made an "inaccurate" statement to a homeless veteran in Los Angeles last month when he said he had served in American special forces.
McDonald said he only made the comment "in an attempt to connect with that veteran, to make him feel comfortable."
"That was wrong and I have no excuse."
White House press secretary Josh Earnest gave McDonald a strong statement of support.
McDonald is "somebody who understands firsthand the sacrifice that our men and women in uniform make on a regular basis," Earnest said, citing his graduation from West Point and years of service in Army's 82nd Airborne division.
"He's also somebody who understands firsthand about why what he said about his service was wrong," he added, saying it was "appropriate for him to apologize."
Earnest said Obama was "pleased" with McDonald's efforts to revamp the VA following last year's controversy over patient wait times.
Meanwhile, lawmakers and top veterans groups expressed profound disappointment with the VA chief, but none called for him to resign.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), who has sparred with McDonald in the past, said that while his misstatement was an error, "it doesn't dim the fact that he served honorably."
"We should all take him at his word, and Washington shouldn't spend the next two weeks arguing about it," said Coffman, a Marine Corps veteran.
"It certainly damages his credibility," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), a Vietnam War veteran, said. "If he continues to fail to enforce the law that we passed, then I would question his work in office. But not on this issue."
McDonald "clearly made a mistake," said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO and founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA).
Other veteran organizations weren't as forgiving.
While McDonald did complete Ranger training and serve in the Airborne division, "a lie is a lie," American Legion Commander Michael Helm said in a statement.
Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, said McDonald's "own actions and words reinforced the perception that the VA, and its leaders, still cannot be trusted to tell the truth."
McCAIN BLASTS PENTAGON's ISIS BRIEFING: The Pentagon is taking serious heat from Congress for holding a briefing last week and revealing details about its plan to assist Iraqi forces in retaking Mosul from ISIS.
Pentagon officials said on background that no operationally sensitive details were released, and that most everything had already been discussed publicly before.
They also said there was no significance to its timing last week, and that the briefing was not coordinated with the White House or new Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and done strictly to update reporters.
A senior official at Central Command told reporters that it would take about 25,000 members of Iraq's security forces, trained by U.S. troops in as little as three to four weeks, to retake the city and that the attack likely would happen in April or May.
Some observers have speculated that the military provided the information to drive fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from Mosul before the offensive starts, but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday flatly rejected that notion.
"It's entertaining, people saying 'Well we told them we were going to invade France, we told them we were going to invade Kuwait.' Yeah, but we didn't tell them who, where, when and how," McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee told The Hill.
"I know they're clever but what they've said is signaling to the enemy how they're going to do it when they're going to do it and where they're going to do it. That's their plans. We all know that," he said.
WEDNESDAY'S AGENDA
At 10:00 a.m., Secretary of State John Kerry will appear before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the State Department's fiscal 2016 budget request, but topics are likely to include Obama's military force request, the status of Iran nuclear talks, and the fight against ISIS.
At the same time, the House Armed Services Committee will hear from NATO military commander Gen. Philip Breedlove and the Defense Department's undersecretary for policy about the their response to emerging threats in Europe. The discussion will likely focus heavily on Ukraine and Russia.
The Senate Foreign Relations will gavel in at 1:30 p.m. to hear from Retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who is coordinating the international effort against ISIS.
Kerry appears again at 2:00 p.m. when he discusses his agency's budget with the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subpanel.
At 2:30, the Senate Armed Services Personnel subcommittee will meet to go over the recommendations made by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission.
House Armed Services convenes again at 3:30 p.m. to receive testimony from a panel of administration witnesses about the Pentagon's information technology operations and investments.
ICYMI:
-- GOP lawmaker: ISIS shouldn't have access to Twitter
-- Thune: Obama hasn't explained plan to defeat ISIS
-- Dems on looming DHS shutdown: Don't send this message to terrorists
-- Armed Services chairman: GOP skeptical of Obama's AUMF
-- Watchdog seeks details on Afghan security forces
Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@thehill.com, and Martin Matishak, mmatishak@thehill.com.
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