Senate Foreign Relations Committee Votes to Repeal Iraq War Authorizations

Much delayed Garcetti nomination for ambassador to India also clears committee

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during day one of the C40 World Mayors Summit Buenos Aires 2022 in Argentina, on Oct. 20, 2022. Gustavo Garello/Getty Images

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 8 voted to repeal the Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq, as the 20th anniversary of the March 19, 2003, invasion approaches.

Both the 2002 and 1991 AUMFs were advanced in the committee by a vote of 13–8. The full Senate could vote on the legislation in the next few weeks.

The 2002 AUMF allowed the U.S. military to go into Iraq following reports that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The United States captured him in 2003 and he was executed by Iraq in 2006. The 1991 AUMF allowed U.S. forces to enter the Gulf War, where Hussein’s forces were driven out of Kuwait.

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.Y.), celebrated the vote.

“AUMFs are the most solemn responsibility of this Committee, and our duty is not just to pass them, but to exercise vigilance as to how they are used and assess when it is time to declare them obsolete,” he said in a statement.

“Today’s vote asserts the congressional prerogative to determine how administrations—current and future ones—justify the use of military force,” he continued. “These two AUMFs are outdated, do not address current threats to U.S. interests, and should not be used to justify large-scale use of military force. Their repeal is in the U.S. national interest, and in the interest of our strategic partnership with Iraq and the region.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) celebrated the advancement of the bill.

“This Senate Foreign Relations Committee has reached an agreement to move forward on the repeal of the Iraq AUMF. We need to put the Iraq war behind us once and for all. And doing that means we should repeal the legal authority that initiated the war to begin with,” Schumer posted on Twitter. He voted for the 2002 AUMF and against the 1991 AUMF.

The committee vote to repeal the AUMFs comes as the House of Representatives is set to vote on March 8 a resolution to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria. U.S. troops are in Syria primarily to combat the Islamic State.

Additionally, the committee finally voted to advance Eric Garcetti’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to India—449 days after the former Los Angeles mayor appeared before the committee and more than 600 days since he was nominated. Garcetti’s nomination has been in limbo due to allegations he knew, but prevented to stop, a senior staffer’s sexual misconduct from his time as mayor. The tally was 13–8. Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) voted with the committee’s 11 Democrats.

“Senator Hagerty believes that for more than two years, the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats have failed to get a Senate-confirmed Ambassador to India—the world’s largest democracy, a rising economic power, and one of our most important strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific. As a former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Senator Hagerty knows firsthand that this is a critical U.S. diplomatic position and believes the Senate should vote on it,” a Hagerty spokesperson said in an email to The Epoch Times.

Despite backing from Hagerty and Young, it remains to be seen whether Garcetti can garner enough support in the full Senate, which the Democrats control 51–49.

The Epoch Times also reached out to Young’s office to ask why he voted to advance Garcetti’s nomination.