US lawmakers take a step forward to formally end the war with Iraq

Lawmakers in the United States will take a major step this week toward repealing a decades-old authorization of presidential powers in case of war, in what also appears to be a move to reassert the authority of Congress that is winning. support over the weeks.

“Both Democrats and Republicans have come to the same conclusion: We need to put the Iraq war behind us, once and for all. And to do that means we must, to begin with, extinguish the legal authority that started the war,” said the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the floor of the Senate last week, praising the bipartisan effort.

Lawmakers have made several attempts in recent years to repeal the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which were passed in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001, granting US presidents broad powers to carry out military operations without the constitutional corset of congressional approval.

All attempts to date have failed amid criticism that repealing those authorizations would endanger US national security and US forces abroad.

In addition to repealing the 2003 AUMF that authorized the war in Iraq, legislation being considered this week in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would also repeal the 1991 AUMF that authorized President George HW Bush to send forces to Iraq.

“Iraq is a strategic partner of the United States in promoting the security and stability of the Middle East. Unfortunately, according to these laws that are still in force, Iraq technically remains an enemy of the United States,” the Republican senator said in a statement. Todd Young, a cosponsor of the legislation. “This inconsistency and inaccuracy must be corrected. Congress must do its job and take seriously the decision not only to commit the United States to war, but to say affirmatively that we are no longer at war.”

Presidents of both parties have used the 2002 AUMF as a justification for military action well beyond the scope of its original purpose. In 2014, Democratic President Barack Obama used the authorization to justify airstrikes without congressional approval against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. Republican President Donald Trump used that same AUMF in 2020 to authorize the air strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.

Congress wants to take the reins

A wide range of US lawmakers now support the proposal, arguing that the Capitol has neglected its constitutional responsibilities for decades.

The last time Congress formally used its powers to declare war was in 1942, against Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Since then, it has given US presidents broader authority to carry out military operations.

“Congress is responsible both for declaring wars and for ending them because decisions as important as whether or not to send our troops into harm’s way require careful deliberation and consensus,” said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, another co-sponsor of the legislation. “The 1991 and 2002 AUMFs are no longer needed, serve no operational purpose, and are at risk of potential misuse.”

After the committee approves the legislation, it will go to a full vote in the Democratic-majority Senate. He is expected to have enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster.

The chances of a repeal in the Republican-majority US House of Representatives are much slimmer. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he will allow an open amendment process, meaning any repeals passed by the Senate will likely be added to the annual National Defense Authorization for consideration later this year.

The Democratic-majority House of Representatives struck down the 2002 AUMF by a vote of 268-161 in June 2021, but it failed to pass the Senate. The 2001 AUMF that authorized the US war in Afghanistan also remains law, despite previous attempts to repeal it.

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