Schumer says Senate will vote on repealing 2002 war authorization

Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday vowed that the Senate will vote on repealing the 2002 Iraq War authorization, marking the first time he has announced his support for the measure.

“The Iraq War has been over for nearly a decade and authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021. … It no longer serves a vital purpose in our fight against violent extremists,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

“I strongly and fully support repealing the 2002 authorization for the use of military force in Iraq,” he said. “It is my intention as majority leader to bring this matter to a floor vote this year.”

Schumer’s support provides a significant boost to repeal proponents after a years-long stalemate over trying to repeal or place new restrictions on a president’s war authority. The House advanced a repeal measure during the previous Congress but it went nowhere in the Senate, which at the time was controlled by Republicans.

Wednesday’s floor speech comes as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced the same day that it will vote next week on legislation from Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs).

“I believe it is well past time for the U.S. Congress to meet its obligation by repealing these open-ended AUMFs that are subject to abuse. … I am grateful for Senators Kaine and Young’s leadership in this effort and look forward to taking up their bipartisan legislation at the committee’s June 22 business meeting,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said in a statement.

The House is voting this week to repeal the 2002 Iraq War AUMF. The White House announced its support for that bill on Monday.

“The administration supports the repeal of the 2002 AUMF [authorization for the use of military force], as the United States has no ongoing military activities that rely solely on the 2002 AUMF as a domestic legal basis, and repeal of the 2002 AUMF would likely have minimal impact on current military operations,” the White House said Monday in a statement of administration policy.