WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House narrowly voted Thursday to reject a resolution that would have restricted President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, one day after the Senate blocked a similar war powers resolution.
Taken together, the failed House and Senate votes represent an implicit authorization by Congress for Trump to carry on his military strikes against Iran, which began last weekend, as a majority of Americans say they oppose the war.
The House vote was 212-219. Just two Republicans, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, broke with Trump and joined most Democrats in supporting the resolution.
Four Democrats voted with all other Republicans against the resolution: Jared Golden of Maine, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Juan Vargas of California and Henry Cuellar of Texas.
The House did pass a separate nonbinding resolution, backed by GOP leaders, reaffirming that Iran remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism. That vote was 372-53, with all of the no votes coming from Democrats.
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the bipartisan duo that successfully fought for the release of the Epstein files, authored the legislation. It would have halted Trump’s military operations in Iran unless Congress voted to declare war or authorize using military force there.
Democrats have pointed out that the Constitution grants Congress the authority to declare war and that Trump and his top officials are calling it a war.
Even before the vote, Massie acknowledged his resolution was headed for defeat. But he said the vote represented a “victory in itself” because it forced a lengthy debate on the Iran conflict in public, on the House floor. He predicted that the popularity of Trump’s war would wane the longer it drags on.
“A war is never more popular than it is on the first day. And I think enthusiasm for this will decline,” Massie told reporters. He added that “as the true cost of this war starts to be known and starts to pile up, there’ll be more support to end it.”
Six Americans have been killed in the conflict so far.
At his weekly news conference Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., blasted Trump and Republicans for hurling “America into another endless conflict in the Middle East, spending billions of dollars to bomb Iran,” but failing to focus on lowering the cost of groceries, health care and housing for Americans.
“What’s the justification for sending American men and women into a theater of war, risking their lives?” Jeffries asked. “We’ve already tragically lost six heroic service men and women, and we mourn for them, and we pray for their families, and we don’t want to see any more American lives lost in Trump’s war of choice.”
Republicans agreed that Trump had a choice, arguing that the commander in chief chose to defend the United States from an “imminent threat.” Trump himself has argued that if the U.S. and Israel hadn’t carried out joint strikes, Iran would have attacked first and started a nuclear war.
“Defending yourself is a choice. It’s a choice that not everybody makes. Some people, instead of defending themselves, curl up into a corner and cry,” said Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., an Afghanistan war veteran. “Some people stand up, and they step into the fight, and they make the tough choice of going through the battles that it takes to defend yourself.”
“I will thank again President Trump for defending America from an imminent threat — an imminent threat that no other president has had the guts to stand up to,” he said.
In a separate vote Thursday, the House passed an appropriations bill to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and fund the sprawling agency through September. But it is not expected to become law, as Democrats in Congress continue negotiating with the White House over changes to immigration enforcement.
The vote was 221-209, with four Democrats joining Republicans in voting yes.
It was virtually the same DHS funding bill the House passed in January, when seven Democrats joined Republicans in supporting it.
But it never became law after the Senate stripped it out of a sweeping package including full-year funding bills for other departments as Democrats demanded more reforms to immigration policies at DHS.
