Democrats seek to repeal authorizations of force for Iraq, Afghanistan to 'end forever wars'

A group of Democratic committee chairs want Congress to repeal the authorizations for use of military force (AUMF) passed in 2001 for the War in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks and in 2002 for the War in Iraq.

The lawmakers argue that an AUMF takes war powers away from Congress. Former President Trump often said he wanted to end forever wars. No new wars began during his tenure, but Congress did not formally repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs while he was in office.

The Democratic House members said President Biden supports war powers reform so Congress should repeal the AMUFs.

"It's time that we end these forever wars," said California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, during a news conference on Friday. "We've made some standard progress on this issue. My language to repeal the 2002 AUMF has passed twice last Congress. We've included this, the repeal of the 2001 AUMF in the defense appropriations bill. 

"So we really just need the political will to move forward. Revisiting the AUMFs that we passed so long ago is really a step that we need to take to end ongoing wars, bring our troops home and reallocate our resources to address the very real and immediate threats that we face. We think that we will have the House and the Senate, with Senator Kaine, and the president and all of us here with you today and more, fighting this year to make sure that we repeal these two authorizations."

New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, zeroed in on the 2002 AUMF and said he intends to work on repeal soon.

"Given that the 2002 AUMF is not needed for any ongoing military operations, there is no reason at all to leave it in place," Meeks said at the event. "And as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I intend to take up legislation that was written and passed previously by Barbara Lee. I intend to mark up legislation in the Foreign Affairs Committee in the coming weeks to repeal it."

Meeks said the 2001 AUMF is going to be a little more challenging to repeal. 

"But I'm committed to working towards an updated authority that is limited to reflect the threats we face today, providing a focused mission and objectives while ensuring it will not be misused in the future," he said. "Presidents have stretched their power far beyond what the framers of our Constitution have intended. Progress on these issues will be difficult. They are among the most consequential issues that we have been charged with overseeing, but the status quo cannot continue, and Congress must act."

California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said he thinks Congress can repeal the AUMFs before the current session of Congress is over.

"This has been a difficult issue to get across the finish line now for over 20 years," Schiff said. "When President Obama was in office, he was supportive of a revision of the existing authorities. But nonetheless, it proved too difficult for that administration and the Congress to accomplish."

Schiff said the situation has changed given that Biden, Obama's vice president, has "expressed his support and willingness to work with Congress" on these issues. 

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern, chair of the House Rules Committee, and Maryland Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown, an Army veteran, also joined Lee at the news conference to support repealing the AMUFs.