US Senators Target Some Presidential War Powers
March 4, 2021
The bipartisan resolution follows Biden's airstrikes on Syria last week.
Sen. Tim Kaine. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
By Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams
As frustration is building among federal lawmakers over President Joe
Biden's recent retaliatory airstrikes on facilities in Syria that the
administration said belonged to Iran-backed militia groups, a bipartisan
group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation to rein in some of the
president's war powers.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) reintroduced a resolution (pdf)
to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF)
against Iraq. The measure - which notably leaves out the 2001 AUMF that
passed after the 9/11 attacks - is co-sponsored by Sens. Tammy Duckworth
(D-IL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Chris Coons (D-DE.), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dick
Durbin (D-IL), and Rand Paul (R-KY).
"Last week's airstrikes in Syria show that the executive branch, regardless
of party, will continue to stretch its war powers," Kaine said in a
statement. "Congress has a responsibility to not only vote to authorize new
military action, but to repeal old authorizations that are no longer
necessary."
"The 1991 and 2002 AUMFs that underpinned the war against Iraq need to be
taken off the books to prevent their future misuse," he added. "They serve
no operational purpose, keep us on permanent war footing, and undermine the
sovereignty of Iraq, a close partner. I call on Congress to promptly take up
this measure and for the Biden administration to support it to finally show
the American people that the Article I and II branches can work together on
these issues."
The move came as Biden is facing criticism from lawmakers and legal scholars
over the Feb. 25 "revenge" bombing that served as an official response to a
series of rocket attacks on Iraqi military bases that host U.S. troops.
There was another rocket attack just hours before the resolution's
introduction.
"If we assess a further response is warranted, we will take action again in
a manner and time of our choosing and we reserve that option," White House
Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. "What we won't do is make a hasty
or ill-informed decision that further escalates the [situation] or plays
into the hands of our adversaries."
Duckworth, a veteran, said in a statement that "as a nation, we are long
overdue to have a thorough and honest reckoning about responsibly exercising
congressional war powers, which includes repealing outdated authorities like
the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs. For decades, administrations of both parties have
kept these authorizations on the books to justify military action in the
region without returning to Congress to make their best legal case for the
need for such action."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and Black Hawk pilot whose
helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004, shown in 2000 while serving as
captain in the Illinois Army National Guard. (US Army, Robert Adams)
Politico reported Tuesday that some lawmakers - including Kaine - are
frustrated that Biden did not notify them about Syria, ordered the strikes
without seeking congressional approval, and still hasn't had a briefing for
senators.
"I still need to be convinced that any president has the authorization
required to take a retaliatory strike, especially outside of Iraq," said
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who sat in on the briefing for Senate aides. "I
didn't hear anything today that convinced me that there was justification
that I'd apply to any administration."
Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations
committees, told Politico that he learned about the strikes "on the news"
and "I don't think I should be learning about it that way." He added that
because Biden served as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, "he
should understand more than most - more than just virtually anybody - that
the Article I branch has got to have a role here."
Though Kaine and other co-sponsors referenced the Syria strikes in their
comments about the proposal, Lawfare noted that Biden did not rely on any
AUMF in his legally required report to Congress on the action - he only
cited his constitutional authority as chief executive and
commander-in-chief.
"This is not surprising," Lawfare added. "Although the Bush, Obama, and
Trump administrations cited the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs as continuing authority
to use force in Iraq and Syria (including against the Islamic State),
members of Congress of both parties have grown increasingly uncomfortable as
successive presidents have stretched the 2001 and 2002 authorizations beyond
their original purposes - the latter authorization especially so."
While the Kaine-Young resolution doesn't address the 2001 AUMF, Congress
faced mounting pressure to end that authorization even before Biden
authorized airstrikes last week.
As Common Dreams reported in mid-February, an ideologically diverse
coalition of 25 groups sent a letter calling on lawmakers to "reorient U.S.
foreign policy away from the unaccountable, interventionist approach we've
seen for nearly two decades" by sunsetting the 2001 AUMF and repealing the
2002 AUMF. Some of those same organizations backed a letter to Biden
demanding an end to "endless wars."
The first letter specifically called on lawmakers to support legislation on
those two authorizations from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) - the only member of
Congress who opposed the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan that led to the
longest-ever U.S. war.
"The strike in Syria exemplifies why Congress must take action to repeal the
2001 and 2002 AUMF," Lee tweeted after the attack. "No single person should
have the power to authorize military force. The era of forever wars must
end."
This article is from Common Dreams.