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The Senate passed a bill, 66–30, on March 29 that would repeal the 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations.
The first allowed the United States to enter the Gulf War, during which then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s forces were driven out of Kuwait. The second allowed the U.S. military to go into Iraq following reports that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
United States forces captured him in 2003 and he was executed in Iraq in 2006.
The final vote, which only needed a simple majority, comes after the Democrat-controlled Senate rejected amendments offered by GOP senators. The amendments needed 60 votes for adoption.
Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have said that the 1991 and 2002 authorizations need to be repealed so that future administrations don’t abuse them, as it is Congress that has the authority to declare war in accordance with Article I of the Constitution.
