The House is preparing to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution that would block U.S. President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, a sign of unease in Congress over a rapidly expanding conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.
It was the second vote in as many days after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are faced with the sudden reality of representing the American people in wartime, and the lives, dollars and alliances put to the test by the president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.
The tally in the House is expected to be tight, but the outcome provides an early snapshot of political support or opposition to the US-Israeli military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which has the power to declare war.
“Donald Trump is not the king, and if he believes war with Iran is in our national interest, he should come to Congress and make the case,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Meeks said in nearly three decades in Congress, the toughest votes he’s taken are deciding whether to send U.S. troops to war.
The roll calls were a moment of clarification for the president and the parties just days into the conflict overseas, which quickly carried echoes of the protracted U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many veterans of those wars have since run for office and now serve in Congress.
Republicans mostly support Trump and most Democrats oppose the war
Trump’s Republican Party, which narrowly controls the House and Senate, sees the conflict with Iran not as the start of a new war, but as the end of a regime that has threatened the West for decades. The operation, which killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is seen by some as an opportunity for regime change, though others warn of a chaotic power vacuum.
Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, the GOP chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, publicly thanked Trump for taking action against Iran, saying the president was using his own constitutional authority to defend the US against an “imminent threat” posed by the country.
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Mast, an Army veteran who worked as a bomb disposal specialist in Afghanistan, said the war powers resolution was effectively asking “the president to do nothing.”
For Democrats, Trump’s war with Iran, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a war of choice that tests the balance of powers in the US Constitution.
“The Framers weren’t nearly as stupid,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., argued that the Constitution can only decide matters of war for Congress.
Whether lawmakers support or oppose the Trump administration’s military action, they should have a debate, he said. “It’s up to us, we have to vote on it.”
Although opinions in Congress mostly fall along party lines, there are crossover coalitions. Both the House and Senate resolutions are bipartisan, drawing bipartisan support and opposition. The House is voting on a separate resolution declaring Iran the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
If signed into law, the war powers resolution would immediately end Trump’s ability to wage war unless Congress approves military action. The President is likely to veto the measure.
Alternatively, a small group of Democrats proposed a separate war authorization resolution that would allow the president to continue the war for 30 days before he must seek congressional approval. It is not expected to come to the polls yet.
Trump officials provide rationale for switch to war
After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday, Trump has scrambled to drum up support for a conflict Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials spent hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this week trying to reassure lawmakers that they had the situation under control.
A drone strike in Kuwait killed six US military members over the weekend and Trump said more Americans could die. Thousands of Americans abroad have scrambled for flights, many lighting up phone lines at congressional offices as they try to flee the Middle East.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the war could drag on for eight weeks, twice as long as the president himself had previously estimated. So far, Trump has left open the possibility of sending in US troops, who have mostly carried out aerial bombardments. Hundreds of people died in the region.
The administration says the goal is to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles, which it believes are protecting its nuclear program. It said Israel was ready to act against Iran and that American bases would face retaliation if the US did not strike first. On Wednesday, the US said an Iranian warship was torpedoed near Sri Lanka.
“This administration can’t give us a straight answer as to why we started this preemptive war,” said Representative Thomas Massey, Republican of Kentucky, who is largely outside his party.
Massey and Rep. Jeffrey Epstein joined forces to release the files. Roe Khanna, D-Calif., pushed the war powers resolution to the floor, pushing House Speaker Mike Johnson’s earlier objections.
Johnson warned that it would be “dangerous” to limit the president’s powers when the US military is already in conflict.
Senators sit down at their desks for a solemn vote
In the Senate, Republican leaders have successfully defeated, albeit narrowly, a series of war powers resolutions related to several other conflicts during Trump’s second term. However, this was different.
Underscoring the gravity of the moment Wednesday, Democratic senators filled the chamber and sat at their desks as the vote took place.
“Every senator today — every single one — will pick one,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote. “Do you stand with the American people who are tired of perpetual wars in the Middle East, or will you stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they head us into yet another war?”
Second in the Senate Republican leadership, Sen. John Barrasso said, “Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than delete Iran’s national nuclear program.”
Kentucky Republican Sen. On behalf of Rand Paul and Democratic Sen. of Pennsylvania. The legislation failed 47-53 along party lines against John Fetterman.
(tags to translate)Iran
