In a blog entry at Mother Jones, Adam Serwer evaluates FBI Director Robert Mueller III's concerns that the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act doesn't resolve concerns that mandating military detention for noncitizen terrorism suspects would harm national security and foment a turf war. He concludes that President Barack Obama may be forced to veto the measure.
Mueller's statement reflects the concerns about a potential turf war between the FBI and the military that the ACLU's Chris Anders raised yesterday in relation to the revised NDAA.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney repeated to reporters the administration's prior statement that "any bill that challenges or constrains the president's critical authorities to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists, and protect the nation would" provoke a veto. For his part, Mueller seems to be saying here that the NDAA's detention provisions do just that.
It's hard to see how Mueller's remarks don't lock the administration into a veto. If for some reason President Obama ultimately doesn't veto after claiming he would, then Congress won't have much reason to take his veto threats seriously in the future.
Read Adam Serwer's entire blog entry at Mother Jones.