House Republicans and Democrats showed unity two weeks ago regarding a possible ban on the social media app TikTok, and the chamber's most conservative and liberal members are now uniting to repeal authorizations given to the president to use the military in the Gulf and Iraq wars.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus and the Progressive Caucus are joining forces in favor of repealing the authorizations during the administrations of presidents George H.W. Bush in 1991 and his son George W. Bush following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Senate passed similar legislation to repeal the authorizations in a 66-30 vote March 29. The lawmakers' effort is mostly symbolic because military operations in Iraq ended in December 2011 during the Obama administration. But some see it as a way for Congress to reassert its authority to start and end wars. The measure has the support of President Joe Biden.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., a former co-chair of the Progressive Caucus who was heavily criticized for being the lone House vote against the post-9/11 authorization, told Politico in a story published Thursday that ending the Iraq authorizations "should come to the floor as soon as possible. And our Republican colleagues are also working to try to ensure that this comes to the floor as soon as possible. It's way past time to get this done."
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Politico the decision to repeal falls under the "question of institutional power."
"I think there's a sense around here, on both the left and the right, that we've abdicated too much of that — and not just in recent Congresses but honestly probably going back decades," he said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the legislation has a "good chance" of coming to the floor for a vote, the Washington Examiner reported Thursday. But there might be some hurdles to clear. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said he wants to "repeal and replace" the authorizations, which could delay or derail the effort.
"There's nothing to replace it with," Lee said, according to the Washington Examiner. "That argument and strategy is muddying the water."
Current operations in the Middle East would not be upended by a repeal of the authorizations and it won't prevent the U.S. from taking military action against future threats. It also does not cover the authorized use of military force passed by Congress on Sept. 18, 2001, which covered the U.S.' global war on terror.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.