Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer set up a vote this week to advance a major defense funding bill and said it will include a provision to repeal decades-old Iraq war powers.
The New York Democrat filed cloture on the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets defense spending levels for the next fiscal year. He established a Wednesday vote that will require 60 votes to start debate.
Schumer told lawmakers Monday he’ll include an amendment that would repeal the congressional authorization for the use of military force against Iraq, which the House and Senate first granted to President George W. Bush in 2002. The provision would also repeal war powers dating back to the 1991 Gulf War.
The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee advanced the AUMF provision earlier this year with the backing of all Democrats and three Republican votes. Schumer, in a floor speech Monday, said including the AUMF repeal in the defense funding bill was “logical” and that the authorization is outdated nearly a decade after the United States ended military involvement in Iraq.
“An authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021 and in no way will repealing this measure impact our ability to keep Americans safe nor impact our relationship with Iraq,” Schumer said.
The House passed its own AUMF repeal in June. It had the backing of 49 Republicans.
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Lawmakers in both parties have grown increasingly eager to reassert congressional authority over U.S. military force abroad, but many GOP lawmakers fear it will restrict the president from taking action needed to ensure the safety of Americans at home and overseas.
Then-President Donald Trump cited the 2002 Iraq AUMF to authorize the U.S. military strike that killed Iran’s top commander, General Qassem Soleimani, who had targeted Americans with terrorism and was planning new attacks.
Schumer and other Democrats have criticized Trump for targeting Soleimani.
President Joe Biden has signaled he supports the 2002 AUMF repeal and is willing to discuss modifying the 2001 AUMF that Congress passed to greenlight the U.S. war in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
