While many in the country debate whether President Donald Trump has the legal authority to use the military against narco-traffickers in international waters, Congress quietly signaled the end to two wars.

Right after the 84th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that thrust the United States into World War II (WWII), Congress agreed to end two war authorizations in place since 1991 and used by six presidents starting with President George H.W. Bush.

Repealing Powers of War

Buried on pages 2902-2903 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY26, Congress repealed both the 1991 and 2002 “Iraq Authorizations for Use of Military Force” (AUMF). This is sound policy, long overdue, and something we have supported for over five years, for several reasons.

>>> Repeal the 1991 and 2002 Gulf and Iraq War Authorizations

First, the objectives and purposes of both the 1991 and 2002 Iraq AUMFs have been achieved long ago. The purpose of the 1991 AUMF was to expel Iraq from Kuwait, which happened in February 1991. The primary focus of the 2002 AUMF was the threat posed by Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Iraq is an ally now, and Hussein was tried and executed in 2006.

Second, neither the AUMF has been relied upon as the primary domestic statutory authority for military action for years.

Third, repealing these two AUMFs will have no operational, legal, or prudential impact on the efficacy of the post-9/11 2001 AUMF, which is still the primary domestic statutory authority relied upon to target al Qaeda, ISIS, and associated forces.

And fourth, repeal prevents a President from misusing outdated war authorizations and strengthens congressional oversight over war powers.

President Trump plans to sign the NDAA this month, making him the only President to sign the repeal of two or more war authorizations since Warren G. Harding and Harry S. Truman.

President Harding was in office (1921-1923) when Congress repealed the war declarations against Germany and Austria-Hungary on July 2, 1921, to end “The War to End All Wars,” the ironic name given to World War I.

War Authorization Under the Constitution

At the conclusion of WWII, Truman was President (1945-1953) when the United States signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan in April 1952, when Congress repealed the declaration of war against Germany in October 1951, and when the Treaties of Peace with Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania were entered into force in September 1947.

As we prepare to celebrate our Semiquincentennial as a country, it’s important to remember that Congress has declared war 11 times across five wars, from the War of 1812 to World War II. Congress has also authorized the use of military force just over 40 times. Every war declaration has ended, and all but four AUMFs have been repealed.

Ending wars is thus a rare, extraordinary, and historically significant achievement. The Founders gave great thought to how wars should be authorized under the Constitution.

Separation of Power Within Government Branches

The Constitution’s allocation of war powers between the legislative and executive branches is a classic example of the separation of powers. Congress has the power to declare war, but cannot wage it on its own.

The President has the authority to deploy military forces abroad without prior specific congressional approval. This authority derives from the President’s constitutional responsibility as commander in chief of the Army and Navy and as chief executive for foreign and military affairs. Without money from Congress, however, the President has no ability to fight those conflicts, whether declared or not, nor does he have the authority to appropriate funds to pay for those military conflicts on his own.

This tension between the legislative and executive branches was purposeful, as the Founders understood the grave significance of the country’s going to war. The United States was born of war, and the Founders believed that since it was likely the country would have to engage in future conflict, the decision to take the country into battle should be allocated between two coequal branches of government.

Like many other provisions in the Constitution, the Declare War Clause is brief. It authorizes Congress “To … declare War.” The Constitution does not dictate how Congress should declare war, just that it has the authority to declare war. It authorizes Congress to “raise and support Armies,” “provide and maintain a Navy,” and “make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces,” and provides “for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”

Commander in Chief Over the Troops

The President, on the other hand, “shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.” There is one, and only one, commander in chief of the armed forces, and he enjoys capacious authority to defend the nation.

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Oddly enough, the Constitution is silent with respect to how wars are terminated.

The current repeals come at a time when the separation and allocation of powers between the legislative and executive branches are being routinely tested in courts and debated in Congress and the public square.

Some recent examples include the following:

• Can a President fire members of so-called “independent agencies” who are ostensibly part of the executive branch?
• Can a president use members of a state’s national guard to assist and protect federal immigration officers and federal buildings from rioters and scofflaws who oppose immigration enforcement actions?
• Can Congress limit the constitutional authority of the President to conduct foreign policy and foreign relations?
• Can Congress subpoena presidential records?
• Can a president, by executive fiat, decide not to faithfully execute immigration law and defer deportation proceedings against illegal aliens in the United States?

Debating whether to take the country to war is, arguably, one of the most solemn duties of Congress. But so is ending it. The objectives and purposes of both Iraq AUMFs have been accomplished years ago.

By repealing two residual AUMFs, Congress is exercising its atrophied war powers muscles and reclaiming a modicum of the power it has ceded to the executive branch over the decades. This could not come soon enough as China eyes Taiwan and other threats to our national security emerge in our hemisphere and around the globe.

And President Trump can rightly state that he ended two more wars at the exact time the world is becoming a more dangerous place.