On his HBO show, comedian Bill Maher presented Senator Adam Schiff with a statement justifying military force without congressional approval, which Schiff criticized as vague, believing it referred to Donald Trump's actions in Iran. Maher then revealed the quote originated from Barack Obama's administration regarding Libya. Schiff responded by discussing Obama's approach to Syria.
During a segment on Friday's episode of HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher,' host Bill Maher read a statement to guest Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA): "The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest."
Schiff, assuming the remark concerned President Donald Trump's military strikes in Iran, described it as "totally vague."
Maher then disclosed that the statement came from the Obama administration in defense of its actions in Libya. Schiff appeared surprised and shifted focus to Obama's proposed intervention in Syria. "Well, Obama made the argument, um, initially that he could go into Syria without an authorization," Schiff said. He noted that he and others opposed this, and Obama ultimately did not proceed against Bashar al-Assad, despite reports of Assad gassing his own people, because Obama anticipated losing a congressional vote.
"But I respect the fact that, uh, that was important to [Obama], and the fact that he did not have the support of Congress meant that we weren’t going to go forward," Schiff added.
Schiff did not directly address the Libya reference. The Obama administration's military involvement in Libya extended for months and faced congressional challenges as an "illegal" and "unauthorized" action. In June 2011, the House voted against authorizing the Libya operation. Additionally, a bipartisan group of ten House members filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration for bypassing Congress on the military action.
