A group of Senate Republicans has slowed Senate consideration of a resolution that would revoke the 2002 authorization for the use of military force in Iraq.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was slated to consider the measure Tuesday but postponed the meeting following objections from a group of five Republicans who want a public hearing and a private briefing on the matter.
The lawmakers called on the Senate to “pause before we act” and requested the committee hold a public hearing with the secretaries of state and defense as well as outside experts about the consequences of revoking the AUMF. The lawmakers also requested a classified briefing on the impact of the measure.
“We believe it is critical that every member of this committee fully understand the scope and use of the existing legal authorities, the current threats to the U.S. and its allies and partners and the implications for our national security and foreign policy,” GOP lawmakers wrote to committee Chairman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat.
The letter was signed by Republican panel members Mitt Romney of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.
Menendez had intended for the committee to advance a bipartisan resolution that would have repealed both the 2002 AUMF as well as the war powers resolution that had authorized the Gulf War in 1991 to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
Democrats and President Joe Biden support ending the 2002 AUMF and say it is no longer needed. Democrats also cited former President Donald Trump’s use of the 2002 authorization to kill Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani at the Baghdad International Airport in January 2020, a move they continue to criticize.
The House voted Thursday on a similar bill to revoke the 2002 AUMF, and it won the support of three dozen Republicans.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, pledged to bring up the measure for a vote in the Senate sometime this year.
To clear the Senate, the measure would need the backing of all Democrats and at least 10 Republicans in order to meet a 60-vote threshold.
Many Republicans remain concerned that a blanket repeal of the 2002 AUMF would limit the U.S. military from combating terrorism in the Middle East, especially following the planned U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Some are urging a rewrite of the authorization to enable the United States to combat the latest terrorist threats.
Senate Republicans, for now, want to take a closer look rather than simply voting on repeal.
“We should fully evaluate the conditions on the ground, the implications of repealing the 2002 AUMF for our friends, and how our adversaries, including ISIS and Iranian-backed militia groups, would react,” the five GOP senators wrote to Menendez.
