The US House of Representatives on Thursday voted down a Democratic-backed measure to halt hostilities with Iran, as Republicans cleared the way for Donald Trump to continue the conflict that has drawn in countries across the Middle East, but criticized as having unclear goals.
By a vote of 212-219, the House voted to reject a war powers resolution proposed by Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, and Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative, which would have forced the US to withdraw from the conflict until Congress authorized military action. The vote was largely along party lines, with two Republicans breaking with their party to support the resolution, and four Democrats voting against it.
The measure’s failure in the House came after the Senate GOP rejected a similar war powers resolution on Wednesday. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, and their leaders have made clear that they believe Trump was authorized to initiate the air and naval campaign that began over the weekend, prompting Tehran to launch drones and missiles across the Middle East. Six US troops have been killed, as well as 1,230 people in Iran.
“I think passage of a war powers resolution right now [is a] terrible, dangerous idea,” Mike Johnson, the House Republican speaker, said at a Wednesday press conference.
“It would empower our enemies, it would kneecap our own forces and it would take the ability of the US military and the commander-in-chief away from completing this critical mission to keep everybody safe.”
The military campaign against Iran came after weeks of negotiations intended to resolve the question of its nuclear program. While the Trump administration gave advance notice of the president’s decision to attack alongside Israel to a small group of top lawmakers in Congress, it did not ask lawmakers to approve a measure formally authorizing hostilities.
Trump and his officials have given shifting explanations for why the US attacked when it did, with Marco Rubio, secretary of state, telling reporters Monday that Washington acted because Israel planned to strike Iran, which was certain to prompt retaliation against US assets in the Middle East. They’ve been similarly unclear about the exact US goals in the conflict, fueling outrage from Democrats that they have embarked on an illegal war with no clear objective.
“We have no concrete justification for why we are putting American troops in harm’s way and spending billions of dollars on a foreign war while the affordability crisis rages here at home – a crisis Donald Trump said he would fix on day one, but instead, Republican policies have made worse,” Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, said as the chamber debated the war powers resolution.
Republicans who backed the resolution argued the constitution requires president seek congressional authorization before entering military conflicts.
“The 1973 War Powers Resolution states plainly that the president may only introduce US armed forces into hostilities pursuant to three conditions: either one, declaration of war; two, specific statutory authorization; or three, a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States. None of those conditions exist today,” said Massie, one of the few House Republicans to regularly break with the president.
The measure was also supported by Warren Davidson, a rightwing lawmaker, who warned that Trump has overstepped his authority by attacking Iran.
“Make no mistake, Iran is an enemy of the United States. As our military engages them, they do so justly. Unfortunately, they are not yet doing so constitutionally,” Davidson said.
“For some, this debate will be about whether we should even be fighting in Iran. For me, the debate is more fundamental: is the president of the United States, regardless of the person holding the office, empowered to do whatever he wants? That’s not what our constitution says.”
Since the law’s enactment by a Congress frustrated by Richard Nixon’s deployment of troops across south-east Asia without congressional authorization, no war powers resolution has ever forced the US to withdraw from a conflict.
But the measure offers lawmakers the opportunity to go on the record about a president’s involvement in a foreign conflict.
Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and supporter of Israel, said he decided to vote for the resolution to reclaim powers that he argues Congress has ceded under recent administrations.
“Congress is on the verge of irrelevancy. We have done this to ourselves, and no one is coming to save us if we don’t show some sign of life,” he said in a statement.
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