The House of Representatives passed two Democratic amendments Thursday designed to constrain presidential war-making authority. One, introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee, would repeal the 2002 Iraq Authorization for the Use of Military Force that the Trump regime most recently leaned on for its authority to assassinate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. That amendment passed 236-166. The other, introduced by Lee’s fellow Californian Rep. Ro Khanna, would require a president to obtain congressional approval for any offensive use of force against Iran. It passed 228-175. Both were attached to a noncontroversial World War II medals bill, H.R. 550.
Donald Trump vowed a veto on Monday. But on Wednesday, on Twitter, he mixed his messages by urging House members to vote their conscience. Passage of the legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate seems unlikely, though not impossible. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could simply ignore the legislation, tossing it into the pile of nearly 300 bills the House has passed since January 2019 that he has held back from consideration.
In a statement of policy before the vote, the White House said that repealing the 2002 AUMF would undercut “the president’s ability to defend United States forces and interests in the region against ongoing threats from Iran and Iranian-sponsored proxies.”
In an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Lee said that she doesn’t believe Trump “understands or believes that this is a democracy.” She added, “Congress has the responsibility of making sure that we insist that we uphold our constitutional responsibilities, and make sure that we hold any president, now it’s this president, accountable.”
In a statement on her webpage, Rep. Lee said,
For far too long, Congress has been missing in action on matters of war and peace – but today, we took a historic step to reassert our Constitutional authority and stop our endless wars by voting to repeal the 2002 Iraq AUMF.
Let me be clear: the 2002 AUMF no longer serves any operational purpose. U.S. military deployments and operations carried out under the 2002 AUMF – dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom – officially concluded in 2011.
Make no mistake, the President must seek specific authorization from Congress for any use of force against Iran or any country. Trump’s claim that the 2002 AUMF can authorize his attacks against Iran has no basis in reality, underscoring the need for immediate action.
In the Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders has introduced a companion resolution to the Khanna amendment. In a statement they said:
After authorizing a disastrous, $738 billion military budget that placed no restrictions on this president from starting an unauthorized war with Iran, Congress now has an opportunity to change course. Our legislation blocks Pentagon funding for any unilateral actions this president takes to wage war against Iran without Congressional authorization.
Steps in the right direction. But it will take a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president to turn these measures into policy. Other measures need to be added to those restrictions as well, including moves to reduce the bloated Pentagon budget.