The US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a resolution to end President Donald Trump’s control of military action against Iran, in the latest attempt to challenge lawmakers’ positions on the war.
Thursday’s vote comes a day after the U.S. Senate voted 47-53 along mostly partisan lines on the Parallel War Powers Resolution.
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Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives, as they do in the Senate, and any vote to rein in Trump’s actions would almost certainly be an uphill battle.
Still, Thursday’s vote will be important. The 435-seat House of Representatives is envisioned by the U.S. Constitution as the legislative branch closest to the American people. It is often called the People’s House.
Republican Thomas Massie, who sponsored the resolution, said the vote would force lawmakers to put their position on the record as polls continue to show dismal approval ratings for President Trump’s bombing campaign and as members of his own Make America Great Again (MAGA) base question his motives for the war.
“They don’t want their names to be associated with this issue when things go wrong,” Massey said on the House floor during Wednesday’s debate.
He joined primarily Democrats in condemning President Trump’s actions as unconstitutional.
Under the U.S. Constitution, only Congress can declare war. Presidents can take some military actions unilaterally, but legal scholars have long argued that under the United States’ founding documents, that power applies only to the country’s immediate self-defense.
Lawmakers critical of President Trump’s actions denounced the joint operation launched with Israel on Saturday as a “war of choice” and accused the administration of presenting no evidence of an imminent threat.
Indeed, the administration has offered a kaleidoscope of rationales, many of which contradict the available evidence.
The administration points to both Iran’s nuclear program, which President Trump said was “annihilated” in last year’s attack, and claims that Iran was seeking to develop a ballistic missile program capable of hitting the United States. Experts note that even if Iran were to develop such a missile, U.S. intelligence estimates it would take until 2035 to achieve that goal.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that Israel, a close US ally, is planning an attack on Iran and that he expects this to provoke Iranian attacks on US assets in the Middle East. President Trump then said that Iran was planning an attack on Israel.
Throughout its argument, the administration said the entirety of the Iranian government’s actions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution represent an imminent threat that previous U.S. administrations have failed to address.
“Constitutional Right to Exercise Power”
Ahead of Friday’s failed Senate vote, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said secret press conferences and public statements had raised concerns about the possibility of the U.S. going into the ground.
“One day he chooses one plan and the next day he chooses the complete opposite. He doesn’t think it through, he doesn’t check the facts,” Schumer said of Trump.
“He’s surrounded by ‘yes men’. This is dangerous,” he said.
As of Thursday, fighting continued across the Middle East, with the United States and Israel repeatedly attacking Iran, and Iran launching its latest wave of attacks across the Gulf. Recent strikes have reached Turkiye and Azerbaijan.
At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran since Saturday, 11 in Israel and nine in Gulf states. Six American soldiers were also killed.
As Wednesday’s Senate vote highlighted, Republicans have largely backed Trump’s campaign or expressed tacit support, including praising the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, the chamber’s top Republican, warned that forcing an end to military operations would be “dangerous.”
He pointed to Congress’ “constitutional right to exercise oversight powers” on Wednesday.
“But we also have a duty and obligation not to compromise our national security,” he said.
Several Republicans have expressed confidence that Trump will quickly end the war and thereby help reduce the political fallout over his conflict with his anti-interventionist campaign promises.
Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the president has 60 days to obtain Congressional authorization to continue military action, regardless of its initial legitimacy, with the possibility of a 90-day extension.
The vote is expected to be close
Currently, Republicans hold 218 seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats hold 214 seats, and there are three vacant seats.
The vote is expected to be close, with House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries predicting broad support across the party.
However, a few Democrats have indicated they may oppose the resolution, including Representative Josh Gottheimer, a top Israel advocate.
In addition to Massey, at least one other Republican, Rep. Warren Davidson, has pledged to vote to rein in Trump.
If the resolution passes with a simple majority, it would need another vote in the Senate before being sent to Trump’s desk. The president can then veto the bill, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
A small group of Democrats has separately proposed a separate war powers resolution that would allow the president to continue a war for 30 days before seeking approval from Congress.
It was not clear when that vote would take place.
