Senate finally votes to repeal the 2002 Iraq War AUMF & 1991 Gulf War authorization - amendment approved by a voice vote

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Connor O'Brien @connorobrienNH 1h
Whoa. The Senate just adopted Tim Kaines amendment to the NDAA to repeal the 2002 Iraq War AUMF and the 1991 Gulf War authorization *by voice vote*.

Opponents, like Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker, didn't want a roll call.

"I think I see how the wind is blowing," Wicker says.

Link to tweet

___Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) locked in an agreement on the floor to vote on 17 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, a substantial package of less controversial changes and passage of the bill itself “at a time to be determined” by party leaders.

The deal salvages passage of the defense bill, a legislative effort senators in both parties were concerned might have been abandoned without a breakthrough this week. Ahead of the deal, Wicker and Majority Leader John Thune had predicted votes could come as early as Thursday if Democrats agreed.

The roster that will receive votes includes 17 standalone amendments, plus a manager’s package of nearly 50 less controversial changes from both parties.

The list includes several Democratic priorities, including votes on National Guard deployments and roles in assisting law enforcement. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also gets a vote on his proposal to block funding for President Donald Trump to retrofit a gifted Qatari jet for use as Air Force One. And Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) will get a vote on his proposal to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorization.

The agreement requires a 60-vote majority to adopt any amendments and to pass the overall bill.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/09/congress/senate-strikes-deal-to-vote-on-defense-bill-breaking-impasse-00599809

[Captain Zero]

1. Ok but that horse is out of the barn.

🐴/ barn

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2. not so much

The key question in weighing repeal is not what the 2002 Iraq AUMF doesauthorize, but what it couldauthorize. In the eyes of the executive branch, 20 years of interbranch practice has put an enabling gloss on the 2002 AUMF’s broad language that makes it a potential vehicle for military activity of nearly any type or scale so long as there is some nexus to Iraq. Such carte blanche authorization should be of deep concern to Congress, particularly when tied to a country that has a complex relationship with one of the United States’ most contentious rivals, Iran. And while there may be good reasons to question the validity of this interpretation, there are few signs that the federal courts or any other institution is willing and able to restrain a future president from relying on them, unless and until Congress itself acts.

For better or worse, the executive branch’s understanding of what the 2002 Iraq AUMF may be used for in the future is intimately tied up with the ways in which it has been used in the past—and how Congress has interacted with that history. For that reason, this article begins with a brief history that tracks the 2002 Iraq AUMF from its origins focusing on regime change in Iraq through its most recent use by the Trump administration and how the Biden administration has conceived of it since.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-2002-iraq-aumf-got-be-so-dangerous-part-1-history-and-practice