Washington, DC – The latest effort to curtail United States President Donald Trump's authority to wage war with Iran has failed in the House of Representatives by a razor-thin margin. On Thursday, the vote was separated by only a single ballot, with 213 in favor and 214 against the war powers resolution. The House vote demonstrated increased consolidation among Democrats, signaling the increasingly entrenched view that the president is allegedly acting beyond his constitutional authority.
Three Democratic members who had opposed a similar resolution in March – Juan Vargas, Greg Landsman, and Henry Cuellar – this time supported the bill. Only one Republican, the resolution's co-sponsor Thomas Massie, voted to pass it, while one Democrat, Jared Golden, voted against it. Republican Warren Davidson, who had supported reining in Trump's power during last month's vote, voted "present" to avoid taking a position. The House defeat came a day after a similar resolution failed in the US Senate by a vote of 52 to 47, mostly along party lines.
The twin votes have underscored Republicans' continued wariness about constraining Trump's war against Iran and his overall military involvement abroad. Following the failed vote, Democrats accused Republicans of granting unchecked power to Trump, who joined Israel in initiating strikes against Iran on February 28. The war has continued for six weeks since, with ceasefire negotiations underway. Representative Bill Foster, a Democrat, posted on social media platform X: "Servicemembers have been killed, gas prices are soaring, and the US is in a worse position than before. Congress cannot abdicate its power as a co-equal branch of government and let this rogue President continue to unilaterally wage war."
Under the US Constitution, only Congress can declare war, although presidents may conduct military actions in instances of immediate self-defense. The Trump administration has maintained that Iran's actions since the 1979 Iranian Revolution constitute such a threat. Critics, however, have argued that the US and Israeli attack on Iran was unprovoked, thereby violating international law. Speaking ahead of the vote, Republican Brian Mast decried the latest resolution as "crazy," pointing to a two-week pause in fighting reached last week.
Ceasefire negotiations over the Iran war are ongoing. The US and Iran have since signaled they are open to another round of talks in Pakistan, after initial negotiations over the weekend failed to yield a breakthrough. There has been movement on at least one major obstacle: Iran's insistence that the current ceasefire must also apply to Israel's ongoing invasion of Lebanon. On Thursday, Trump announced a 10-day pause in the fighting in Lebanon. The deal had been struck between the governments of Lebanon and Israel, but it was not immediately clear if Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group, had signed on to the plan.
Other issues, including control of the Strait of Hormuz and the future of Iran's nuclear program, remain unresolved. There were also indications that the US was preparing to restart military operations should the ceasefire with Iran fail to hold. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Thursday the US was ready to resume attacks on Iran's energy facilities, but that the Trump administration purportedly prefers diplomacy. "Our forces are maximally postured to restart combat operations, should this new Iranian government choose poorly and not agree to a deal," he told reporters.
In a statement responding to the House vote, the anti-war group Demand Progress criticized both Republicans and Democrats for failing to pass the war powers resolution. Its senior policy advisor Cavan Kharrazian wrote: "Congress has once again failed to uphold its constitutional responsibility by refusing to block this unauthorized and dangerous war." The group also questioned why lawmakers did not hold a vote last week, after Trump threatened widespread destruction in Iran shortly before the ceasefire was announced. The president had written at the time on social media, "A whole civilization will die tonight."
Kharrazian added: "We urge members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, to support sustained diplomatic efforts to resolve this conflict. The American people overwhelmingly reject this war and want a diplomatic end to it."
Source: www.aljazeera.com