The House of Representatives passed its version of the annual Pentagon spending bill. The legislation includes the repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) for the Gulf and Iraq Wars.
The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House on Wednesday, 231 to 196. The vote mainly fell along party lines, with 17 Democrats voting for the legislation and 4 Republicans voting against.
The NDAA is the annual Department of War funding bill. The House and Senate typically pass separate versions of the legislation. Then, the leadership of the Upper and Lower Chambers meet in a conference committee and roll out a compromise bill.
Repealing the AUMFs may have support in the Senate. In 2024, the Senate passed legislation by a wide margin that repealed the 2002 and 1991 AUMFs.
The House version of the NDAA includes a provision that will repeal the 1991 and the 2002 AUMFs. The laws were responsible for allowing the President to start the Gulf and Iraq Wars.
While the AUMFs are rarely invoked today to justify military action, during his first term, President Donald Trump asserted the 2002 AUMF gave him the authority to assassinate Iranian General Qussam Soleimani in Iraq in 2020.
The 2001 AUMF, passed in the days after the 9/11 terror attack, is the authorization that Presidents have relied on to wage war across Africa and Asia.
The provision repealing the AUMFs was inserted into the text of a bill during the amendment process in the House Rules Committee. The repeal was introduced by Democrat Jim McGovern, and only passed with the support of three members of the Republican House Freedom Caucus.
The full House also voted on the AUMF amendment 261 to 167. 49 Republicans joined most Democrats voting in support of the change.
A top Democrat said his party largely voted against the NDAA because they did not get any of the amendments they offered into the bill. “We didn’t get any of the amendments or debates that we wanted. Not a single solitary one,” Rep. Adam Smith stated on the House floor.
The legislation also includes $893 billion in funding for the Department of War, the US nuclear weapons program, and foreign aid. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene previously tried to amend the NDAA to remove $500 million in military aid for Israel. That amendment was rejected by the House 6-422.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Anitwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts The Kyle Anzalone Show and is co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Connor Freeman.
