Separately, President Joe Biden's weekend airstrikes against Iran-backed militias at the border between Iraq & Syria have angered Democrats who are wary of being trapped in an endless conflict in the Middle East. This has fueled a push for limiting presidential war powers. Biden however cited Article II of his Constitution authority to defend U.S. personnel rather than a specific war authorization.Vote: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D.Va.) sponsored the repeal of the Gulf War authorization. The bill to repeal the 1957 authorization was sponsored by Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., and passed by a vote of 366 to 46 as part of a package of uncontroversial bills.Now, the bills are headed to the Senate. The Senate is currently weighing its plans to repeal other war powers.Since the three-decade-old conflict in which Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait by the Iraqi forces, the 1991 law has not been invoked. The 1957 authorization for the Middle East was never invoked.Advocates see the removal of authorizations as a necessary precedent for future war powers discussions and to ensure that the authorities cannot be misused later."The fact it hasn’t been misused nor abused doesn’t mean that there isn’t a possibility,” Spanberger stated in an interview.She said, "We should strive... to make sure that our authorizations for military force use are available for the parts of time they are needed and then they are done."The AUMF Debate: In addition to removing outdated war powers, both sides want to reform the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force. This law governs the vast majority of U.S. military operations after 9/11, including the war in Afghanistan.Biden supports efforts to replace the current set of presidential war powers by legal authorities that are more relevant to current conflicts. However, he has not defined specific parameters.The Senate: Bipartisan legislation is introduced to repeal the 2002 Iraq War War and 1991 Gulf War authorizations that were sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine (D.Va.), and Todd Young (R.Ind.). The Senate is moving closer to a vote.Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader, has promised to hold a vote this year on the repeal of 2002.Despite opposition from Republicans, action in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been delayed. Last week, the panel was scheduled to vote on the bill. However, Chair Bob Menendez (D.N.J.), granted a request from the GOP to delay the vote so that the panel could hold a classified hearing about the consequences of repealing this authority.Menendez hopes for a vote in the committee soon after the classified briefing.
