White House: Biden believes U.S. authorizations for military force need updating

[March 06, 2021]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden believes that authorizations for the use of military force that have been used to justify U.S. attacks on overseas targets should be re-examined, the White House said on Friday.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Republican Senator Todd Young introduced legislation this week to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq, citing the “strong partnership” between Washington and the government in Baghdad.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden wanted to work with Kaine on the issue.

"He wants to discuss a narrow and specific framework moving forward. Obviously, it's outdated," she told reporters. "That's the discussion he hopes to have in partnership and with the leadership of Senator Kaine and determine what the approach and framework should be as we look ahead."

President Joe Biden holds a meeting on infrastructure with members of Congress in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 4, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

Psaki said that the recent airstrikes in Syria that Biden approved were legal.

"The Syria airstrikes were of course - we had a whole legal process and review. We're confident in the legal authorities for that strike," Psaki said.

The U.S. Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress, not the president.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason, Patricia Zengerle and Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Chris Reese and Sonya Hepinstall)

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