The House narrowly rejected a war authorization resolution on Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over a rapidly expanding conflict that is reordering US 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 Americans on alert in wartime, and lives, dollars and alliances put to the test by the president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.
Although the 212-219 tally in the House was expected to be tight, the result provided a clear snapshot of political support and opposition to the US-Israeli military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which only has the power to declare war. At the Capitol, the conflict quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many Sept. 11-era veterans now serve in Congress.
“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.
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The House also approved a separate measure certifying Iran as the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
Trump’s Republican Party, which narrowly controls the House and Senate, largely sees the clash with Irannot as the start of a new war, but the end of a government that has long threatened the West. 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, Republican of Florida, who chairs 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.
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 attack on Iran, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a war of choice that tests the balance of powers in the 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. “It’s up to us.”
Although opinions in Congress mostly fall along party lines, there are crossover coalitions. The war authorization resolution, if signed into law, would immediately end Trump’s ability to wage war unless Congress approves military action. The President is likely to veto it.
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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 are scrambling for flights, many lighting up phone lines at congressional offices as they try to flee the Middle East.
Trump said Thursday that he should be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader. Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said this week that America has enough problems at home and is not in the “nation-building business.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the war could drag on for eight weeks, twice as long as the president had previously estimated. Trump has left open the possibility of sending US forces into a bombing campaign, mostly by air. More than 1,230 people have died in Iran.
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 and American bases would face retaliation if the US did not attack Iran first. On Wednesday, the US said an Iranian warship was torpedoed near Sri Lanka.
“This administration cannot give us a straight answer as to why we started this preemptive war,” said Representative Thomas Massey, Republican of Kentucky.
Massey and Rep. Roe Khanna, D-Calif., pushed the war powers resolution to the floor over earlier objections from Johnson’s GOP leadership. Another Republican, Rep. of Ohio. Warren Davidson, a former Army Ranger, is expected to support the war power resolution.
Johnson warned that it would be “dangerous” to limit the president’s powers when the US military is already in conflict.
“Congress must stand with the president to finally close this dark chapter of history once and for all,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.
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As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled their homeland, she celebrates Khamenei’s death, said Rep. Yasmin Ansari, D-Ariz. But he warned that a democratic transition for the people of Iran was never seen as a priority for Trump and his officials, who briefed lawmakers.
“War will have profound and deadly consequences for our troops, for the American people, and for the entire world,” he said. “This is the most serious decision the nation can make, and the American people deserve debate, transparency and accountability before making that decision.”
Other Democrats have proposed an alternative resolution that would allow the president to continue the war for 30 days, subject to congressional approval. It is not expected to be voted on yet.
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.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said each senator will choose a party 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.”
The legislation failed on party lines 47-53, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., opposed.
(AP with France 24)
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