The US House has rebuked President Donald Trump over his war against Iran. It is the first time a war powers resolution targeting the conflict has cleared the chamber. The Democratic-led measure passed by a slender 215-208 margin on Wednesday, exposing fractures in Republican ranks and handing the White House, if largely symbolic, a defeat.
US House passes war powers resolution
The US House resolution directs Donald Trump to withdraw American armed forces from hostilities with Iran unless Congress votes to declare war or explicitly authorizes military action.
Introduced by Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, the measure does not legally compel Trump to end the conflict. It serves instead as a formal expression of congressional disapproval, a tool Democrats argue is necessary to reassert legislative authority over matters of war and peace.
Four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with every Democrat: Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tom Barrett of Michigan, and Warren Davidson of Ohio. Their defection proved decisive in a chamber where the Republican majority has repeatedly stood by the president on foreign policy.
Moreover, the vote nearly happened weeks earlier. Party leaders had scheduled action before the Memorial Day recess, but pulled the resolution from the floor on May 21 after realising that too many Republican members were absent to defeat it.
Wednesday’s US House success followed three failed attempts to pass similar war powers measures this year, the most recent of which ended in a 212-212 deadlock. Democrats pointed to the shift as evidence that public and political sentiment is turning against the Iran war.
The result injects momentum into a parallel effort in the Senate, which advanced its own war powers resolution last month but has not yet held a final vote. Unlike the House version, the Senate measure carries binding language that would require Trump to end hostilities without congressional approval.
Even if it passes both chambers, the president retains the power to veto it.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.com.
