AUMF

As President Joe Biden’s term in office comes to an end, he can cement his legacy by taking executive action to terminate the outdated 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq (2002 Iraq AUMF) and move us closer to a future free from war.

A new report from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) assessing all 30 AUMFs passed by Congress going back to 1789, finds the 2001 AUMF the only one in history without any clear and specific limits regarding who it will be used against, where it will be used, what actions can be carried out, or how long the authorization will remain active.

How can Congress prevent AUMFs from becoming blank checks for war in the future? A new report from FCNL sheds light on that question.

For more than two decades, the executive branch has relied primarily on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to conduct military operations against an array of non-state groups in more than half a dozen countries around the world. While initially crafted as a limited authorization targeting only on those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and those who harbored them (al-Qaeda and the Taliban), successive presidential administrations on both sides of the aisle have drastically expanded the scope of this law.

In the wake of escalating conflict in Israel and Palestine, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (TX-10) has begun drafting a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Iran-backed groups.

On closer inspection, it becomes clear that the Biden administration’s approach to counterterrorism is not a shift away from a militarized response at all, but an outsourcing of it. Instead, the Biden administration should take bold, active steps to end the War on Terror. To do so, it should start by working with Congress to repeal outdated AUMFs, move our nation off a war footing, and pursue sustainable peace at home and abroad.

A bipartisan group of representatives sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy calling on him to fulfill his promise to bring a bill to repeal the 2002 AUMF Against Iraq to the House floor. 

There is no need to link the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq with broader war powers reform efforts.

As the House of Representatives prepares to embark on renewed efforts to repeal and replace outdated war authorizations, it will need to grapple with a fundamental question: who decides against whom the country goes to war.

Last week, the House passed its version of the annual defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA. Unfortunately, an amendment to repeal the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq (2002 Iraq AUMF) was not included. However, we are not discouraged. There remain multiple paths to repeal.