The Bipartisan Effort to Reclaim War Powers from President Biden

A collaboration between Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (Virginia) and Republican Senator Todd Young (Indiana) introduced a bill yesterday seeking to repeal President Biden’s ability to order US military airstrikes in Syria without congressional approval. 

The bill would repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorisations of Use of Military Force (AUMF) which led to a prolonged military campaign in Iraq. If the bill is passed into law it will see a restructuring of power between the Executive and the Legislature.

Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and raise and support the armed forces; Article II, section 2 assigns the President the role of Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States. However, this balance of powers was changed when Congress derogated its war powers in favour of President H.W. Bush, who maintained that he should not require Congressional approval to carry out the United Nations’ resolution which authorised all member states to “use all necessary means” to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Congress passed Public Law 102-1, which authorised the President's use of force against Iraq if diplomatic efforts failed; after diplomatic efforts failed, Operation Desert Storm began.

In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Congress passed Public Law 107-40 giving President W. Bush powers to:

“use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.” 

Following in his Father’s footsteps, George W. Bush was authorised to use force in Iraq once more through Public Law 107-243, which was passed by Congress in 2002. However, Senators Young and Kaine argue that now that Iraq is sovereign, democratic, and has a strong relationship with the United States, these powers should be repealed. Young states:

“It has been thirty years since the first Gulf War began and nineteen years since the United States went back into Iraq. In the years since, Congress has been operating on autopilot when it comes to our essential duties to authorize the use of military force. The fact that authorities for both of these wars are still law today is illustrative of the bipartisan failure of Congress to perform its constitutionally-mandated oversight role … Today, Senator Tim Kaine and I have re-introduced our bipartisan legislation to continue our fight to repeal these outdated war authorities. Congress must not shy away from this debate and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance this important legislation.”

Senator Kaine Echoes this sentiment, adding that President Biden’s airstrikes are further proof that these powers need to be repealed:

“Last week’s airstrikes in Syria show that the Executive Branch, regardless of party, will continue to stretch its war powers … 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. 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.”

Biden has angered many within his own party after he launched airstrikes against the Iranian-backed military installations in Syria. The President justified the strikes by claiming that they were launched in retaliation against militia groups backed by Iran, who had targeted facilities housing US troops earlier this week. Senator Chris Murphy (D - Connecticut) put his objection to this move succinctly, in a statement to POLITICO:

“I still need to be convinced that any president has the authorization required to take a retaliatory strike, especially outside of Iraq.”

Other Senators have also co-sponsored the bill, which includes: Tammy Duckworth (D - Illinois), Mike Lee (R - Utah), Chris Coons (D - Delaware), Chuck Grassley (R - Iowa), Rand Paul (R - Kentucky), and Dick Durbin (D - Illinois.).