The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation revoking the 2002 authorization to use force in Iraq, taking a key step to close one of the costliest chapters in US history more than 20 years after President George W. Bush decided to launch the invasion.
Democrats are joined by some Republicans in favor of repealing it, a largely symbolic move that supporters say is designed to reaffirm Congress’ authority to declare war in the future. The bill also repeals the 1991 Gulf War authorization to use military force.
The Iraq War was a dangerous conflict that cost tens of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. That excuse is based on bad intelligence, and many lawmakers now believe the Bush administration lied to Congress and the public when it claimed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
The president also used the 2002 authorization expansively to wage war around the world. For example, the administration of President Donald Trump declared in 2020 to justify the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
Debate over Iraq war authorization splits Republican Senate conference. Establishment GOP senators who voted to send the US into war at the time, as well as national security hawks, opposed the repeal on the grounds that it would increase Iran’s morale in the region.
“Our terrorist adversaries have not stopped their war against us. And when we deploy service members in dangerous ways, we must provide all the support and legal authority we can,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement Tuesday. .
Some senior Republicans continue to defend the decision to go to war in Iraq.
That view was not shared by more recent GOP attendees in Congress, but reflects a party that has changed under former President Donald Trump who has increasingly questioned U.S. involvement abroad, including in Ukraine.
The law passed by the Senate on Wednesday leaves behind a broad 2001 authorization to use military force that every presidential administration since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has used to fight in more than a dozen countries. An amendment by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) repealing the authorization received only nine votes.
The amendment offered by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who would end future congressional authorization for military force after two years, pushed for another vote on the matter if necessary, getting more support — 19 votes — but still failed to pass. . Notably, more Republicans voted for it Lee’s amendment instead of Democrats.
However, the likelihood of deauthorizing the 2002 Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War in the Republican-controlled House is less clear. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has not taken a position, however said earlier this month he believed the bill “has a clear chance.”
House Republicans could decide to amend the legislation, which would require another Senate vote before it goes to President Joe Biden’s desk.
The White House has indicated that Biden will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk and that it “will have no impact on current US military operations,” according to an administration policy statement.