Senate committee votes to repeal Iraq War authorizations

In a historic move, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SFRC) voted 14-8 to repeal two Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that propelled the United States into decades of war in Iraq. The vote was preceded by a hearing held by the committee on Aug. 3, when lawmakers and experts debated the implications of repealing the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs. All Democrats and three Republicans backed the legislation.

American Legion National Commander James W. “Bill” Oxford wrote Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., voicing The American Legion’s support of the senator’s leadership in efforts to see the AUMFs repealed. Originally enacted to authorize the use of military force against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, Oxford called them “no longer relevant.” Saddam’s regime was overthrown in 2003, and a formal end to the U.S. mission in Iraq was declared at the end of 2011.

“Too often, the Executive Branch interprets congressional authorizations in a way that maximizes executive power while minimizing congressional responsibility,” wrote Oxford. “This is contrary to Congress’s constitutional role of deciding when the country goes to war.

“In accordance with American Legion Resolution No. 22: Addressing the ‘Forever War’, which urges a renewal of a proper constitutional balance to American foreign policy decision-making by encouraging Congress to repeal outdated AUMFs, we strongly support this bill,” added Oxford.

Today, the U.S. considers Iraq a “key partner” in the Middle East, according to the State Department. Kaine says that keeping these war authorizations on the books could undermine the U.S. partnership with Iraq.

"I ask this committee to send a clear and bipartisan message that a Congress that initiated military action against Iraq can also recognize the end of hostilities against Iraq," said Kaine.

The Biden administration supports the repeal of the 2002 AUMF that paved the way to the war in Iraq. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that the administration believes the 2002 AUMF “has outlived its usefulness and should be repealed.”

“For the State Department, repealing the 2002 AUMF would not affect our diplomatic initiatives, and the administration has made clear that we have no ongoing military activities that rely solely on the 2002 AUMF,” Sherman added.

While most lawmakers support efforts to repeal the long-standing AUMFs, some have expressed concern that doing so could tie the president’s hands when it comes to the threat of conflict with Iran, as well as undermine counter-terrorism efforts in the region. Iranian proxies have long targeted U.S. forces in the region.

Committee ranking member, Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said that repealing the AUMFs sends the wrong message to Iran, noting that the 2002 AUMF provided part of the legal basis for the strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad’s international airport on Jan. 1, 2021. Soleimani headed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, which was deemed a terrorist organization by the Trump administration in 2019.

“A repeal of this authority amplifies Iranian messages that they are ejecting the U.S. from the region, rewards Iranian proxies for attacks against Americans, and decreases U.S. leverage in the nuclear talks in Vienna, indeed if we have any leverage,” Risch said.

Expert testimony from Sherman, Pentagon general counsel Caroline Krass and Richard Visek, acting legal adviser at the State Department, stressed to lawmakers that the Biden administration will still have authority under Article II to respond to threats against U.S. forces in Iraq. 

“Repealing the 2002 AUMF would not impede U.S. forces’ ability to protect and defend themselves. The Department of Defense would have raised concerns and opposed repeal if we thought it would have put any of our men and women in uniform at greater risk,” Krass said.

“There is no longer any legitimate purpose for the 1991 or 2002 AUMFs,” said the committee’s chairman, Bob Menendez, D-N.J. “And the time has come for this committee to stop dealing in hypotheticals and to act responsibly.”

Following Wednesday’s vote, Sens. Kaine and Todd Young, R-Ind., applauded passage of their bipartisan legislation. Together, they have raised concerns over the use of military force without congressional authorization and pushed to reassert the role of Congress in authorizing military action.

“Despite the war in Iraq being over for years, and the government of Iraq now being our partner, the authorities for that war remain on the books and open to potential abuses," said Young.

“Iraq is not an enemy and we should not treat it as if it is,” said Kaine. “I’m glad that my effort to repeal these outdated AUMFs, which I have spearheaded since arriving to Congress, has finally reached this pivotal point.”