Repeal the 2001 AUMF

Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force in direct response to the September 11 attacks. But the world has changed dramatically since then: Osama bin Laden is dead, the war in Afghanistan has ended, and an authorization written to pursue those responsible for 9/11 has been stretched far beyond its original purpose to justify military operations across multiple countries and against groups that did not even exist in 2001. An authority written for a specific moment has become a standing permission slip for war.

The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to debate and decide when our nation goes to war. That responsibility should not be delegated indefinitely or avoided when the stakes include American lives, our national security, and potentially years of military conflict. When military force is necessary, Congress should debate the mission, define its objectives, and cast a public vote authorizing it.

I urge Congress to repeal the 2001 AUMF and reassert its constitutional war authority. America’s service members deserve clear missions and defined objectives, and the American people deserve a voice, through their elected representatives, in decisions of war and peace.