Congress could consider war vote against ISIS by spring, says official

The U.S. Congress will vote over whether to introduce new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria by spring, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday.

“I expect the president is going to send an authorization to Congress. I expect we’ll have hearings on that, and we’ll in fact have a debate and a vote on it. The timing has yet to be determined,” Boehner said.

His statement comes after President Barack Obama said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he called on Congress to pass a new AUMF.

Obama had previously said he had the authority to authorize military operations against ISIS.