One Vote. 22 Countries. 25 Years.
The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force passed on September 14, 2001, with one dissenting vote from Rep. Barbara Lee. It authorizes the president to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against those who “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the September 11 attacks. The phrase “al-Qaeda and associated forces” does not appear in the text. That is an executive branch interpretation.
22 countries. One authorization. 25 years. The 2001 AUMF has been used to justify operations against groups that did not exist on 9/11, in countries with no connection to the attacks. Congress has never voted on any of it.
Brown University’s Costs of War Project found the AUMF has been formally cited to justify counterterrorism operations in 22 countries. The U.S. undertook counterterrorism activities in 85 countries between 2018 and 2020. Evidence exists of hostilities in Mali and Tunisia that do not appear in any executive branch AUMF citation.
The Authorization Has Been Used Against Groups That Didn’t Exist on 9/11
ISIS did not exist on September 11, 2001. It was an enemy of al-Qaeda. The Obama administration settled on the 2001 AUMF as the “strongest legal basis” for the ISIS campaign.
Legal scholars questioned the plausibility. Al-Shabaab in Somalia was designated an “associated force” despite being a Somali insurgent group with no operational connection to 9/11. The executive branch used 127e programs in Mali, Tunisia, Cameroon, Kenya, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and Mauritania.
The executive branch has “consistently used vague language to describe the locations of operations, failed to accurately describe the full scope of activities in many places, and in some cases simply failed to report on counterterrorism hostilities.”
Congress Repealed the Iraq AUMF. The 2001 AUMF Remains.
In December 2025, the FY2026 NDAA repealed the 2002 Iraq AUMF and the 1991 Gulf War authorization. It was the first time Congress clawed back a war authorization since the 1971 repeal of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The bipartisan amendment was sponsored by Sens. Kaine and Young.
The 2001 AUMF was not included. H.R. 6751, the “Sunset for the 2001 AUMF Act” introduced by Reps. Jayapal and Massie, has not advanced. The authorization remains fully active after 25 years, with no expiration date.
What you can do now
- Call your U.S. representative and senators and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 6751, the Sunset for the 2001 AUMF Act introduced by Reps. Jayapal and Massie. The bill has not advanced. Your call matters. Use Resist Bot to send a message in minutes.
- Tell your senators the Iraq AUMF repeal was a good start but not enough. Congress repealed the 2002 Iraq AUMF in December 2025 for the first time since 1971. The 2001 AUMF has been used in 22 countries against groups that did not exist on 9/11 and has no expiration date.
- Ask your representative to demand War Powers Resolution compliance. The executive branch has “consistently used vague language to describe the locations of operations” and “in some cases simply failed to report on counterterrorism hostilities.” Congress has the constitutional authority to require these reports.
- Share Brown University’s Costs of War research with your network. Most people do not know the U.S. conducted counterterrorism activities in 85 countries between 2018 and 2020 under a single authorization Congress passed in 2001.
Update, June 3, 2026: The House voted 215 to 208 to pass a war powers resolution requiring President Trump to seek congressional approval to continue military operations against Iran or withdraw U.S. forces. Four Republicans voted with Democrats: Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Tom Barrett of Michigan.
The vote was the fourth time the House acted on such a resolution and came after the U.S.-Iran conflict surpassed the 90-day threshold that triggers the 1973 War Powers Act’s requirement for congressional authorization. The resolution now goes to the Senate, which must take it up promptly under that law and which advanced a similar measure last month with Republican defectors.
The margin falls well short of the two-thirds vote needed to override a presidential veto, limiting the resolution’s legal force. The White House has rejected the war powers argument by citing a ceasefire it says has been in place since April 8, though hostilities have resumed repeatedly since that date, according to the Guardian.
Update, June 23, 2026: The Senate voted 50-48 on June 23 to approve a concurrent resolution directing President Trump to halt military operations against Iran or obtain congressional authorization to continue them. Four Republicans voted in favor: Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Bill Cassidy. Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the measure.
The vote marks the first time both chambers have approved such a resolution since the War Powers Resolution took effect in 1973, according to PBS News. The House passed the same measure 215-208 earlier in June. As a concurrent resolution, the measure will not be sent to Trump and carries no legal force. U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began February 28; a ceasefire took effect April 7; a memorandum of understanding signed last week gives both governments 60 days to negotiate a broader agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
The same day, the Pentagon submitted an $80 billion supplemental funding request to Congress, most of it to cover war costs. The Iran military campaign was not authorized under the 2001 AUMF or any subsequent authorization, adding a new front to the ongoing congressional debate over executive war powers that this brief examines.
Update, June 28, 2026: Both chambers of Congress passed a war powers resolution directing President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran, where the U.S. and Israel have conducted strikes since February 28, 2026. The Senate approved the measure 50-48 on June 24; the House had passed it June 3 by a vote of 215 to 208. The resolution is nonbinding and cannot carry the force of law without the president’s signature, a threshold set by a 1983 Supreme Court ruling.
Four Senate Republicans crossed party lines to support the measure: Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Trump berated those senators at a Capitol luncheon on June 25, and by that evening Cassidy had changed his vote and Paul had voted present, allowing the Senate to reject a nearly identical resolution 47-50. Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, threatened to sue Trump after U.S. Central Command launched a second round of strikes on Iranian military sites on June 28.
Unlike the post-9/11 AUMF covered in this brief, Trump has not sought any congressional authorization for the Iran war, relying instead on asserted executive authority. Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein told Al Jazeera on June 25 that courts would likely refuse to intervene under the political questions doctrine. The Pentagon is separately seeking an $80 billion supplemental appropriation from Congress, largely to replenish munitions depleted during the conflict.