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AUMF repeal: Senate votes to repeal military authorizations for Iraq and Gulf wars

WASHINGTON – The Senate passed legislation Wednesday to repeal decades-old military authorizations and formally end the Iraq and Gulf wars.

The bill to repeal the authorization for the use of military force, or AUMF, passed in the Senate by a vote of 66-30.

This isn't the first time Congress is voting to repeal the military authorizations. The House approved similar measures in the past, but they failed to pass in the Senate.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., reintroduced the bipartisan legislation in February that would prevent future presidents from misusing military force without congressional authorization. The bill had dozens of bipartisan cosponsors.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday the odds are high it will be signed into law before the end of the year because there's a lot of support in the House and from President Joe Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has indicated he supports a repeal.

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Biden supports AUMF repeal 

President Joe Biden speaks about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas.
President Joe Biden speaks about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas.

President Joe Biden, who served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his time in the Senate, said he supports the legislation to formally end the military authorizations.

Repealing the authorizations would not impact current military operations, according to a statement from the Biden administration, because the United States does not have ongoing military activities related to the decades-old authorizations.

Kaine told USA TODAY he attributes support from the Biden administration as part of his reasoning for re-introducing the bill this Congress, saying the president understands the role of Congress from his time in the upper chamber.

More: Biden backs Senate efforts to repeal old military authorizations for Iraq and Gulf wars

Bill gives Congress more power when to send troops into war

US Marines from the 2nd battalion/8th Marines wear their gas masks 21 March 2003 as they prepare to advance towards Iraq.
US Marines from the 2nd battalion/8th Marines wear their gas masks 21 March 2003 as they prepare to advance towards Iraq.

In addition to repealing the authorizations for use of military force specifically for the Iraq and Gulf wars, Kaine's bill also gives Congress more power in determining when to send troops into combat.

"This is part of a larger strategy of getting Congress to really own a responsibility that we should jealously guard – which is determination about when the nation should be at war and the ability to declare 'OK, the war is over,'" Kaine told USA TODAY.

He also noted the congressionally approved authorized military action could be misused by presidents years later for unintended purposes.

"If congress has authorized military action ... but then if we just leave that authorization on the books long after the war is over, it really creates an opportunity for mischief," Kaine said. 

More: American contractor killed, troops wounded in Iran-linked drone attack in Syria, prompting US airstrikes

Congress tried, fails to pass AUMF in 2021

**RETRANSMITTED FOR ALTERNATE CROP** U.S. Army soldiers search buildings at an Iraqi military compound south of Baghdad Friday, April 4, 2003. Troops from A Company,  3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment searched the compound, destroying abandoned Iraqi military vehicles and helicopter parts.
**RETRANSMITTED FOR ALTERNATE CROP** U.S. Army soldiers search buildings at an Iraqi military compound south of Baghdad Friday, April 4, 2003. Troops from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment searched the compound, destroying abandoned Iraqi military vehicles and helicopter parts.

The 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the Iraq and Gulf wars passed more than two decades ago.

Kaine first introduced legislation repealing the military force authorizations in 2019. The House approved similar measures in the past, but they failed to pass in the Senate. Kaine said his colleagues have become more concerned about Congress advocating for the authorization responsibility to the president.

Military force authorizations should be repealed because Iraq is now an ally to the United States, Kaine said, referencing how Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Baghdad at the beginning of March.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AUMF repeal passes in Senate vote on Iraq, Gulf wars authorizations