H.R. 256 would repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. Signed into law on October 16 of that year, the AUMF authorized the president to use the U.S. military “as he determines” to “defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq,” and “enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq.”
The House passed H.R. 256 on June 17, 2021 by a vote of 268 to 161 (Roll Call 172). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because, under the Constitution, the Congress, not the president, possesses the power to declare war, and by adopting the 2002 Iraq AUMF, Congress unconstitutionally abdicated this power. Also, the U.S. military should not be used by the president to enforce UN resolutions or to engage in nation building, and Iraq does not threaten the United States.
