A powerful congressional committee just threatened to repeal a military authorization used by Presidents from George W. Bush to Barack Obama to Donald Trump to fight the so-called global war on terror.
The House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment on Thursday to an annual defense spending measure that would repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
The measure was introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—the lone “no” vote against the bill in both houses of Congress when the AUMF was first approved in 2001, just days after the September 11 attack.
“It was overly broad. It was 60 words,” Lee said on Thursday before the committee. “I think, at this point, sixteen years later, given the nature of the threats we face, that we should, in a bipartisan way, support my amendment.”
The amendment, barely a page long, simply states that the 2001 AUMF should be repealed 240 days after the amendment is enacted into law. It would apply to all military operations conducted under the authorization.
Rep. Lee cited data from the Congressional Research Services showing that the AUMF has been used to justify military operations including airstrikes, surveillance, and indefinite detention in 14 countries.
“This AUMF has essentially provided the president, the authority to wage war in perpetuity,” Rep. Lee said.
Most recently, the Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, claimed that the AUMF is being used as the legal justification to target Syrian government forces. Gen. Dunford made the declaration last week.
The authorization is also being used to justify attacks on the Islamic State, which is at war with the Syrian government and did not even exist when the 2001 AUMF was passed.
“This authority is a major and concerning deterioration of congressional oversight and war making authority,” Rep. Lee added.
In what was a surprise to most observers who’ve seen Rep. Lee’s frequent efforts to repeal the AUMF founder over the years, only one member of the committee spoke out against the proposal.
Rep. Kay Granger (D-Texas) called the AUMF “necessary” to fight terrorism. But her concerns were dismissed one-by-one by both Republicans and Democrats on the panel.
“We’re at war against an enemy that did not exist in a place that we did not expect to fight,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in support of the amendment. “How the AUMF that was passed 16 years ago could possibly be stretched to cover this is beyond belief to me.”
Rep. Cole, and others on the committee, noted Rep. Lee’s persistence on this issue.
“She has raised an important point,” he said. “I think she has done it repeatedly and effectively, and I think the Congress ought to listen to what she has to say.”
“When I came in this morning, I was going to vote ‘no,’” Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said. “But we’re debating now. Barbara Lee, I’m going to be with you on this. And your tenacity has come through.”
The amendment was adopted by an overwhelming voice vote on the committee. It still would need to be considered by the full House, and approved by the Senate, before the AUMF could be repealed.
