Unclassified Annex: Notification on the Legal and Policy Frameworks for the United States’ Use of Military Force and Related National Security Operations

by Joseph Robinette Biden

This notification is provided consistent with Section 1264(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018, as amended (50 U.S.C. § 1549).^[1] It provides notice of a change in the legal and policy frameworks since the last annual “Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding the United States’ Use of Military Force and Related National Security Operations,” which President Trump submitted to the appropriate congressional committees on October 16, 2020.^[2]

On January 20, 2021, as clarified on February 19, 2021, the President established new interim guidance concerning the United States’ use of military force and related national security operations. The justification for the issuance of the interim guidance is to ensure the President has full visibility on proposed significant actions in these areas while the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs coordinates interagency reviews of the extant authorizations and delegations of Presidential authority with respect to these matters.

1. Section 1264, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, Pub L. No. 115-91 (2017), as amended by Section 1261, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-92 (2019).
2. Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding the United States’ Use of Military Force and Related National Security Operations, October 16, 2020. See Text of a Letter from the President to Certain Congressional Committees, October 16, 2020, available at https://www.trumpwhitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-letter­president-certain-congressional-committees/.