§1549 Report on and notice of changes made to the legal and policy frameworks for the United States’ use of military force and related national security operations

Summary

The President must send a report not later than March 1 of each year to specific congressional committees about the legal and policy rules the United States uses for military force and related national security actions. The report must explain any changes from the year before with the legal, factual, and policy reasons. It must list every foreign force, irregular force, group, or person the President has determined could be legally targeted under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40), explain the legal and factual basis for each determination, and say whether force was used. It must also explain the criteria and any changes to the criteria for calling someone lawfully targetable, a high value target, or a member of a group covered by that Authorization. The President must also notify the same committees not later than 30 days after any change, with the legal, factual, and policy reasons. Reports and notices must be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex. The unclassified part must at least list each change made in the prior year and the reasons, and it must be made public when sent to the committees. “Appropriate congressional committees” means the Senate Committees on Armed Services, Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Committees on Armed Services, Appropriations, Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.