The content below comes from the newsletter This Week in War Powers News, provided by the Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy.
House Votes to Repeal Two Older Military Force Authorizations
The House voted 366-46 to repeal two decades-old authorizations of the use of military force in the Middle East, or AUMFs, as Congress moves to reassert its constitutional powers to declare war.
The bills, which were voted on together on Tuesday with other pieces of legislation that had broad bipartisan support, would terminate the 1991 Gulf War AUMF, 30 years after its enactment in response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, and a little-known 1957 AUMF passed during the Cold War to counter “the possibility of Communist aggression” in the Middle East. The latter has never been invoked by any administration to justify military operations, however. READ MORE
House Votes to Repeal 1991, 1957 War Authorizations
The House on Tuesday voted to repeal a pair of decades-old war authorizations related to the Middle East amid a broader debate over presidential war powers.
As part of a package of seven bills considered to be uncontroversial, the House voted 366-46 to repeal the 1991 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) that greenlit the Gulf War in Iraq, as well as a 1957 resolution that provided broad authorization for military action in the Middle East to protect against “armed aggression from any country controlled by international communism.” READ MORE
House Votes to Repeal 1957 and 1991 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force
On Tuesday, the House voted to repeal two war authorizations, the 1957 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the 1991 AUMF, which grant the president broad discretion in military operations in the Middle East absent congressional approval. The measure passed 366–46 as part of a larger bill package.
AUMFs allow the president to use military force against certain hostile parties without an official declaration of war, for which the Constitution grants Congress sole authority. Though Congress has not formally declared war since World War II, the U.S. has engaged in conflicts far and wide thanks to ever-broadening interpretations of AUMFs and other war legislation. READ MORE
