AUMF repeal stripped from defense appropriations bill

By Tony Bertuca / July 19, 2017 at 2:33 PM

A measure that would put Congress on track to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force has been stripped from the House's proposed version of the fiscal year 2018 defense appropriations bill.

The measure, which was removed Tuesday by the House Rules Committee, was a defense appropriations bill amendment authored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) that unexpectedly passed the House Appropriations Committee last month.

Lee took to Twitter Tuesday and accused House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) of having the measure stripped "in the dead of night" from the final bill without a vote.

"This is underhanded & undemocratic. The people deserve a debate!" she wrote. "Ryan should be ashamed of himself for forcing Republicans to strip out my bipartisan AUMF [amendment] in the dead of night. What is he afraid of?"

The AUMF, which was passed shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, along with a 2002 authorization for the Iraq war, have been used dozens of times in the past 16 years to justify military action in 14 countries.

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