On October 10, 2002, Meehan was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. In January 2005, nearly three years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and as U.S. troops faced an "increasingly sophisticated insurgency in Iraq," Meehan published a Congressional white paper advocating that Iraqi security responsibilities be transferred to a new democratically elected government and that the U.S. develop an exit strategy to remove troops within 12 months to 18 months. During a discussion panel at the Brookings Institution, Meehan expressed concerns about the Bush administration having "no endgame in sight." He told the panel that "it's time for Congress to reassert its role in foreign policy and to take the lead in providing an exit strategy in Iraq."