In rebuke of Trump, House passes war powers resolution aimed at ending Iran war
Benjamin Weiss
WASHINGTON (CN) — The House on Wednesday narrowly approved a measure demanding President Donald Trump stand down in his war on Iran, in a major defeat for the White House and a signal of shifting attitudes among Republicans to the president’s military adventurism.
Four House Republicans joined every Democrat in backing the war powers resolution, offered by New York Representative Gregory Meeks, which cleared the lower chamber on a thin 215-208 vote. The measure now heads to the Senate.
The move to defy the Trump administration and rebuke its controversial Iran war bristled GOP leadership, who argued that it removed the White House’s ability to use military force as a bargaining chip in ongoing negotiations with Tehran. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s vote that reining in the White House’s military authority was “dangerous” and that it “weakens us.”
“I think it is a very dangerous prospect to take away from the administration and the commander in chief right now … the ability to negotiate,” said the top House Republican. “That’s what it does.”
Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president can legally commit troops to combat for a period of 60 days without congressional approval. Following that period, lawmakers must pass a declaration of war or other military authorization — and at any time, they can revoke approval of military action.
The Trump administration has said that the war on Iran, which began in early March, has been “terminated,” but limited U.S. and Iranian strikes have continued, and the president has repeatedly threatened to resume full military action if the regime refuses to meet Washington’s demands.
For decades, presidents have tested the limits of the War Powers Resolution, and some have argued the legislative guardrail on executive military authority is unconstitutional. Even if Wednesday’s war powers measure passes in the Senate, it’s unclear whether the Trump administration would abide by a congressional directive to cease hostilities on Iran.
Still, Democrats on Wednesday hailed the measure as a major check on the president’s warmaking power.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Democratic minority said in a statement that the resolution’s passage was a “loud and unambiguous message to Trump. “[I]ts time to end his deeply unpopular and illegal war of choice in Iran.”
“The power to declare war has been with Congress,” said New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury. “Now let’s get it done and end this war!”
And Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, one of the four Republicans to vote for the war powers resolution, similarly celebrated its success. “The People’s House is sending a message: end this war,” said the lawmaker, who last week was defeated by a Trump-backed primary challenger.
It’s unclear whether the House-passed war powers measure will clear the Senate, but the upper chamber recently approved a similar resolution.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Washington and Tehran have been on shaky ground for weeks. Trump on Tuesday insisted that talks continued despite statements from Iran that it was no longer engaging with U.S. diplomats. The president wrote in a Truth Social post that discussions “have been going on continuously.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that Tehran would need to wind down its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief from Washington. He said the U.S. would consider dropping sanctions if Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium for use in nuclear weapons.
And Trump has reportedly become frustrated with Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over recent military operations against Lebanon. Axios reported this week that the president told the Israeli leader he was “fucking crazy” and argued during a phone call that Jerusalem’s campaign in Lebanon could derail negotiations with Iran.