BAGHDAD (Dispatches) -- Iraqi lawmakers have fired back at Washington’s interference in a government bill to further institutionalize the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) into the state. 
Mahdi al-Ameri, an Iraqi MP with ties to the PMU, told Rudaw that they “will not submit to any external pressures regarding Iraq and Iraq’s sovereignty,” adding that the law will serve all Iraqis. 
“When we say Popular Mobilization Forces, we have Sunni, Shia, Christian, and Shabak PMUs. Even our Kurdish brothers are present in this institution. This is a security institution linked to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces,” he added. 
The lawmaker stressed that there is a determination to pass the law despite U.S. intervention. 
“We have completed the procedures and the first and second readings, and God willing, soon there will be a vote on the PMU law. We will not care about any external threat, whether from America or anyone else, regarding Iraq. We are the decision-makers regarding the PMU law, and it will pass, God willing, soon,” he said. 
Another Iraqi MP and leader of the PMU’s Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) faction, Falih al-Khazali, also rejected U.S. intervention. 
“We reject American interventions, especially regarding the issuance of laws that protect our security institutions. We believe that issuing the PMU law means transferring this force to institutional work ... We insist on passing this bill and call on all political forces to cooperate as a gesture of loyalty to the martyrs’ blood,” he said. 
U.S. Charge d’Affaires Stephen Fagin met recently with the First Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohsen al-Mandalawi, claiming that the law would entrench Iranian influence and empower armed groups, “undermining Iraq’s sovereignty.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also warned Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani against approving the law, which would essentially transform the PMU into a fully independent security institution directly under the premier. 
The law was signed into legislation in 2016 and institutionalized the PMU, a coalition of armed factions, which fought Daesh and resisted the 2003 U.S. invasion of the country. The law integrated the organization, formed in 2014, into Iraq’s military structure.
A new draft law was introduced earlier this year, aiming to replace the 2016 law and further institutionalize the PMU into the Iraqi state with comprehensive regulation, including a mandatory retirement age and clearer administrative structure.
Among the groups represented in the PMU are Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and the Al-Nujaba Movement – all resistance factions committed to protecting Iraq’s sovereignty.  
Washington has reportedly threatened renewed attacks against Iraq if resistance factions are not disarmed.