A bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing efforts to repeal the law that authorized the costly US military invasion of Iraq ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Baghdad attacks next month.
The push to revoke the 2002 military authorization for the Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War authorization has steadily gained bipartisan momentum in recent years. Sense. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), the effort’s main co-sponsors, had hoped to reach the last Congress, but the Senate ran out of time because of legislative backlogs. calendar.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) on Thursday reiterated his support for repealing them and pledged to bring the legislation soon “so the Senate can pass it quickly.”
The 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, gave President George W. Bush the green light to invade Iraq, a disastrous conflict that cost countless lives and trillions of dollars based on false claims. Schumer co-sponsored the measure with 28 other Democratic senators.
Kaine said Thursday that the two authorizations are “no longer needed, no longer serve any operational purpose and are at risk of potential abuse.” Presidents have used the 2002 authorization extensively to wage war around the world. For example, President Donald Trump’s administration cited it in 2020 to justify the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
“Congress owes it to our military, veterans and families to pass the bill that repeals these outdated AUMFs and officially ends the wars in the Gulf and Iraq,” Kaine said in a statement.
Young, a former U.S. Marine, noted that Iraq is technically still an enemy of the U.S. with the laws on the books.
“This inconsistency and imprecision should be corrected. Congress must do its job and take seriously the decision not only to commit America to war, but to say affirmatively that we are no longer at war,” he added.
Legislation repealing the two military authorizations is co-sponsored in the House by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the only congresswoman to oppose the 2001 authorization of military force in Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
In the last Congress, the Democratic-controlled House passed the 2002 repeal of the AUMF as part of the annual defense bill. It is not clear, however, whether the new Republican majority in the House would agree to vote on legislation repealing the two authorizations, even if the Senate passes it this year.
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