Rep. Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, warning that an open-ended grant of war powers risked unchecked and prolonged military action. The AUMF has since been cited dozens of times for operations in nearly 20 countries and has effectively functioned as a blank check across multiple administrations. The post-9/11 era has also included abuses such as Abu Ghraib, the use of black sites, and the continued detention of prisoners at Guantánamo. Twenty-five years on, Lee's call for restraint and careful deliberation merits reconsideration.
We Owe Barbara Lee An Apology: How Her Lone 9/11 Vote Warned Against Open-Ended War
Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The crash of two airliners hijacked by terrorists loyal to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and subsequent collapse of the twin towers killed some 2,800 people.(Spencer Platt, Getty Images)
Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the lone congressional dissent that day — Rep. Barbara Lee's vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) — deserves serious reconsideration. While the nation grieved and demanded swift action, Lee warned that an open-ended authorization risked unleashing unchecked military campaigns far beyond their intended scope.
One Vote, A Lasting Warning
Three days after the attacks, Congress approved the AUMF, a resolution that empowered the president to use military force against those deemed responsible, anywhere in the world, with no named enemy and no expiration date. The measure passed the House and Senate by a combined vote of 518–1. Representative Barbara Lee of California was the only member to vote no.
"This unspeakable act ... has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction," Lee said on the House floor. She warned that broad, indefinite war powers would not necessarily prevent future terrorism and urged restraint: "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore."
Immediate Backlash—and Long-Term Consequences
Lee's stance drew intense immediate backlash: hateful calls, death threats that required round-the-clock security, and public demonstrations accusing her of disloyalty. Yet the subsequent two decades have shown why she worried.
The AUMF has been cited roughly 41 times as the legal basis for U.S. military operations in about 19 countries, from the Philippines to parts of Africa. Successive presidents from both parties have relied on it, effectively treating the measure as a blank check for military action. The post-9/11 era also saw documented abuses, including prisoner mistreatment at Abu Ghraib, the use of so-called black sites, and interrogation programs later judged ineffective by the Senate.
Guantánamo Bay remains open: according to public reporting, 15 men are still detained there, some without formal charges. Estimates of the human cost of the wars that followed vary widely; reporting cited here places the death toll in the hundreds of thousands—more than 900,000 by some counts—far exceeding the casualties of the single day that triggered the response.
Why Dissent Matters
Lee was not opposed to all military action: she had family ties to the armed forces and believed some response was warranted. Her objection was to an unchecked, indefinite grant of authority given in a moment of national pain and fear. Consensus—even overwhelming consensus—can sometimes be produced by circumstances that impair clear judgment: grief, fear, and the rush to demonstrate resolve.
In the years after the vote, Lee repeatedly proposed repealing or curbing the AUMF. Though she did not succeed in ending it while in Congress, she continued public service and later became mayor of Oakland.
Bottom line: The widespread initial condemnation of Barbara Lee obscured a crucial constitutional and moral concern: who should decide the scope and limits of war. As time has shown, her caution about an open-ended authorization was well-founded and worth revisiting.
Daniel Allott, USA TODAY's Conservative Opinion Editor, wrote the original column reflecting on Lee's vote. This revised piece preserves the factual record while tightening language and structure for clarity and context.
Smoke pours from the southwest corner of the Pentagon after a hijacked commercial airliner crashed into the building in Arlington, VA.(H. DARR BEISER, USA TODAY)
A hijacked commercial plane approaches the World Trade Center shortly before crashing into the landmark skyscraper.(SETH MCALLISTER, AFP via Getty Images)
A half-dozen workers trapped below the 93rd floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center look out windows, jet fuel burning below them. The tower collapsed five minutes later.(Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Network)
President George W. Bush is interrupted by his Chief of Staff Andrew Card shortly after news of the New York City airplane crashes as he attends an early morning school reading event in Sarasota, Florida.(Paul J. Richards / AFP via Getty Images)
United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11 departed from Boston en route to California before hijackers crashed them into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. Passengers attempted to overtake United Airlines Flight 93 from hijackers before it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.(Tim Dillon, USA TODAY)
Marcy Borders is covered in dust as she takes refuge in an office building after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York. Borders was caught outside on the street as the cloud of smoke and dust enveloped the area. The woman was caught outside on the street as the cloud of smoke and dust enveloped the area.(STAN HONDA, AFP via Getty Images)
Mannequins on the floor of the Brooks Brothers' shop in New York near the World Trade Center are seen after the twin towers collapsed.(DAVID BUTTON, AFP via Getty Images)
Edward Fine covers his mouth as he walks through debris after the collapse of one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York. Fine was on the 78th floor of 1 World Trade Center when it was hit by a hijacked plane.(STAN HONDA, AFP via Getty Images)
The shell of one of the twin towers is all that remains after two airliners crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.(Seth Harrison, The Journal News via USA TODAY Network)
Pedestrians run from the scene as one of the World Trade Center Towers collapses.(DOUG KANTER, AFP via Getty Images)
An ambulance, covered with debris, is on fire after the collapse of the first World Trade Center Tower.(DOUG KANTER, AFP via Getty Images)
Rescue workers evacuate a man through rubble and debris after the collapse of one of the World Trade Center Towers.(STAN HONDA, AFP via Getty Images)
A police officer helps a woman to a bus after she fled the area near the World Trade Center towers in New York.(STAN HONDA, AFP via Getty Images)
Security personnel take up positions beneath the national flag at half-staff atop the White House on Sept. 11, 2001, in Washington, D.C., following terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon.(ROBYN BECK, AFP via Getty Images)
A firefighter sits on a demolished fire truck after two airliners crashed into the World Trade Center in a terrorist attack.(Seth Harrison, The Journal News via USA TODAY NETWORK)
Customers at P.C. Richards in Yonkers, NY watch news reports of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.(Matthew Brown, The Journal News via USA TODAY Network)
People watch the devastation of the terrorist attacks from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J. on Sept. 11, 2001.(Frank Becerra Jr., The Journal News via USA TODAY Network)
New York City firefighters look at the remains of the World Trade Center from an adjoining building on Sept. 11, 2001.(Ricky Flores, The Journal News via USA TODAY Network)
Kevin Horan of Staten Island was inside the World Trade Center when the hijacked planes struck, Sept. 11, 2001.(Seth Harrison, The Journal News via USA TODAY Network)
A firefighter stands amidst the burning wreckage of the Twin Towers after the World Trade Center.(Seth Harrison, The Journal News via USA TODAY NETWORK)
Military personnel evacuate the Pentagon after a hijacked commercial airliner crashed into the southwest corner of the building in Arlington, Virginia.(H. DARR BEISER, USA TODAY)
Rescue personnel walk in front of the rubble of the World Trade Center.(Thomas E. Franklin, NorthJersey.com via USA TODAY Network)
A New York City police officer hold a dust mask over his face as another officer tries to secure it, both men covered in a thick layer of dust and ash after a debris wave engulfed them following the collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.(RYAN MERCER, NorthJersey.com via USA TODAY Network)
Three NYC firemen, George Johnson and Dan McWilliams and Bill Eisengrein, raise an American flag near the rubble of the World Trade Center. Taken at 5:01 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.(Thomas E. Franklin, The Record-USA TODAY NETWORK)
In one of many acts of courage and kindness, a man helps an elderly woman escape the cloud of dust, smoke and ash six blocks from the World Trade Center.(Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Network)
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee hands Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, the key to the city during the City of Oakland's Alysa Liu celebration rally, on Thursday, March 13, 2026, in Oakland, CA.
US soldiers look out over hillsides during a visit of the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan General Scott Miller at the Afghan National Army (ANA) checkpoint in Nerkh district of Wardak province on June 6, 2019.(Thomas Watkins, AFP/Getty Images)
Soldiers play football in front of the Boardwalk as the sun begins to set at Kandahar airfield on Nov. 12, 2014 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Now that British combat operations have ended and the last UK base in Afghanistan had been handed over to the control of Afghan security forces, any remaining troops are leaving the country via Kandahar. As the drawdown of the US-led coalition troops heads into its final stages, many parts of Kandahar airfield - once home to tens of thousands of soldiers and contractors - are being closed or handed over to the Afghans.(Matt Cardy, Getty Images)
A soldier with the 3/509th of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division keeps descends from a guard tower at Forward Operating Base Zerok Oct. 7, 2009 in Zerok, Afghanistan. The soldiers at FOB Zerok, which has been attacked repeatedly from the surrounding hostile countryside of Paktika province, keep an extensive 24 hour a day watch from several locations to guard the base. October 7th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001; eight years later, thousands of American and international troops are camped out in field bases around the war-torn country.(Chris Hondros, Getty Images)
U.S. Army Engineer Staff Sgt. Rick Atkinson of Roswell, New Mexico plays with a puppy that soldiers of Forward Operating Base Zerok adopted a few weeks ago Oct. 7, 2009 in Zerok, Afghanistan. Oct. 7th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001; eight years later, thousands of American and international troops are camped out in field bases around the war-torn country.(Chris Hondros, Getty Images)
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