- The war bill gives Trump 60 days to stop fighting or go to Congress.
- Resolution aimed at restoring the war authorization function of Congress.
- The House approves a measure that reaffirms Iran as the main state sponsor of terrorism.
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Thursday rejected an effort to stop President Donald Trump’s air war against Iran and require that any hostility against Iran be authorized by Congress, backing the Republican president’s military campaign on the sixth day of the expanding conflict.
The vote was 219 to 212, largely along party lines, in the House, where Trump’s fellow Republicans control a narrow majority of seats. Two Republicans voted in favor of the resolution and four Democrats voted against it.
Opponents accused Democrats of bringing the issue to a vote only because they oppose Trump, putting Americans at greater risk.
“We all know we wouldn’t be here today if the president’s name wasn’t Donald Trump,” Rep. Rick Crawford of Arizona, Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said during Wednesday’s debate.
The resolution’s sponsors described it as an attempt to restore Congress’ responsibility for authorizing war, as provided for in the U.S. Constitution.
The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, a conflict that has killed more than 1,000 people, including at least six American service members, and caused damage and instability across the Middle East.
Supporters said the resolution, by requiring Trump to go to Congress for war authorization, would force him to explain to Americans why the United States is fighting and how it might end.
“This is a war of choice, launched by this administration without authorization, without clearly stated goals or a defined endgame, and without explaining how they intend to keep Americans safe,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Approval would not have stopped Iran’s air war
Just before the vote on the resolution, House members from both parties overwhelmingly approved a measure “Reaffirming that Iran remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
The vote would not have stopped the conflict even if the House had voted in favor.
To go into effect, the resolution would also have had to pass the Senate and obtain the two-thirds majorities needed to override Trump’s expected veto.
The Senate, also closely controlled by Trump’s party, backed his military campaign against Iran in a vote Wednesday, voting to block a bipartisan resolution similar to the measure passed by the House. This week’s votes are not the end of the matter. The War Powers Resolution of 1973, which provides for votes on resolutions, says a president can only involve the military in an armed conflict when Congress has declared war or granted specific authority or in response to an attack.
Trump and his Republicans have argued that Iran posed an “imminent threat” so its actions were legal under that law.
However, the War Powers measure also requires that unauthorized military actions end within 60 days, giving the Trump administration a late April deadline to seek congressional approval.
