The US House of Representatives voted to end President Donald Trump’s war in Iran without congressional approval, the latest reversal by lawmakers of the president’s efforts to resolve the conflict.
Four Republicans voted with Democrats to support the measure proposed by Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal. The vote was 214 to 208. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Barrett and Warren Davidson crossed party lines to support the resolution.
The House resolution represents a serious rebuke. But even if it had passed the Senate, it would not have forced the administration to end the war. Concurrent resolutions that are not presented to the President for signature or veto do not have the force of law.
Later Thursday, the Senate voted on its own effort to advance a measure to limit Trump’s military power in Iran, but the vote failed. The vote was 47 to 49.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins voted with Democrats to limit the president’s war powers, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman voted with the rest of the Republican conference to defeat the measure.
The vote took place amid escalating renewed conflict after a recent ceasefire came to an end. It was the second time the House voted to test the president’s ability to continue waging war, but the first time since the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding collapsed.
Democrats have repeatedly forced votes to limit Trump’s war powers in both the House and Senate, but the campaign has gradually gained more GOP support, a sign of growing dissatisfaction within the party with the ongoing conflict.
The bodies of four American service members killed in the war with Iran returned to the United States on Wednesday in flag-laden boxes.
Some Democrats who support war powers efforts argue that concurrent resolutions are still legally binding and argue that courts have not ruled on whether they are unenforceable when considering war powers measures.
House Democrats stressed Thursday that they are making a politically popular choice by repeatedly voting to rein in President Donald Trump’s power in Iran as the war drags on ahead of midterm elections.
“I think Americans of all backgrounds are tired of seeing the United States go into wars without justification, spending trillions of dollars on our commitments abroad,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.
The New York progressive said passing the war powers measure before the House goes on recess in August sends a message “both about the depravity and wrongness of invading Iran as an insult to the global economy, and about the complete lack of attention to the needs of the American working class.”
The resolution’s sponsor, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, said she believed Republicans who did not show up to vote “didn’t want to vote ‘no’ and then go home to their constituents and explain to them why they voted ‘no’ to end this illegal war instead of focusing on what Americans really want to focus on.”
The president sharply criticized Republicans for voting to advance previous war powers resolutions, chastising them in closed sessions and writing on Truth Social that they were “losers” who “made my job harder.”
In June, during the ceasefire, the Senate passed a resolution aimed at withdrawing military forces from Iran, but the House rejected the rebuke a day later when they failed to propose a similar measure of war powers.
This story has been updated with additional information.