The House soundly defeated an amendment authored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., to revoke a 2001 authorization that Congress gave President George W. Bush to attack any countries or groups involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Obama is relying on that nearly 15-year-old authority to send U.S. troops into combat against the Islamic State.

Lee argued it‘s long past time for Congress to grant new war powers that specifically approve the nearly two-year-old campaign. „I am extremely disappointed that my colleagues left a blank check for endless war on the books,“ she said.