The US Senate on Thursday approved an amendment to repeal two authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs) in Iraq, a significant push to restore Congressional war-making powers more than 20 years after the 2003 invasion.
SA 3337, a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Senators Tim Kaine and Todd Young, was passed as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The measure repeals both the 2002 AUMF that authorized military action against Saddam Hussein’s regime and the 1991 authorization from the Gulf War. Previously, the House voted to repeal the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs in June 2021, and the Senate likewise repealed the AUMFs in March 2023, but because the votes did not occur during the same congressional session, the legislation did not become law.
The AUMFs have drawn criticism for enabling executive military action without congressional approval. The Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war under Article I, Section 8, but successive presidential administrations have relied on these authorizations to justify military operations. The Obama administration cited the 2002 Iraq AUMF as an “alternative statutory basis” for its 2014 campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, arguing the law authorized force to address terrorist threats coming from Iraq. The Trump administration used the 2002 Iraq AUMF as partial legal justification for the 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani.
While the 2001 AUMF authorizing the war on terror will remain in effect, supporters argue that repealing the Iraq-specific authorizations is necessary to prevent future misuse. Senator Kaine issued a statement following Thursday’s vote:
Congress is responsible for both declaring wars and ending them because decisions as important as whether or not to send our troops into harm’s way warrant careful deliberation and consensus … the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs are no longer necessary, serve no operational purpose, and run the risk of potential misuse.
Representative Chip Roy has voiced a similar sentiment in his previous support of the bill:
The framers gave Congress the grave duty to deliberate the questions of war and peace, but for far too long this body has abdicated this duty. We must do our job. Repealing the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs … is necessary to ensure these decades old and outdated authorities are not abused in the future.
The Senate’s 77-20 passage of the NDAA sends the bill to conference committee. The inclusion of identical language repealing the AUMFs in both the House and Senate versions increases the chances Congress will finally close the legal chapter on the Iraq War authorizations. However, it remains uncertain whether President Trump will sign the measure into law.
