The House on Thursday narrowly defeated a War Powers Resolution that would have directed President Trump to end the US war against Iran, as the US continues to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports and is considering restarting the full-scale bombing campaign.
The bill failed in a tie vote of 212-212, with three Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (KY), Tom Barret (MI), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) — voting in favor of ending the war. Just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (ME), voted no. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who supported a previous War Powers Resolution, voted against the bill.
The vote marked the third time a War Powers Resolution to end the war against Iran was brought to the floor of the House and was the closest the bill came to passing. The first bill failed 212-219, and the second was blocked 213-214-1 (Davidson voted present).
The Senate has voted seven times on an Iran War Powers Resolution, and the latest, held on Wednesday, came closest to passing. The bill failed in a 49-50 vote, with three Republicans — Senators Rand Paul (KY), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Susan Collins (ME). Just one Democrat has consistently opposed the resolutions: Sen. Jon Fetterman (PA).
While Trump administration officials have declared the 1973 War Powers Resolution “unconstitutional,” they have also been desperately trying to circumvent the law, which was passed to rein in the Executive Branch’s disregard for the Constitution’s requirement that Congress has the sole power to declare war.
The law includes a 60-day deadline for the president to end any unauthorized military action or obtain authorization from Congress, which has been falsely reinterpreted to give the president 60 days to wage war without congressional authorization.
The 60-day deadline for the Iran war expired on May 1, and the administration has tried to claim that the ceasefire should have paused the clock, but the blockade means the US military is still engaged in hostilities against the country. The US military attacked several Iranian commercial ships and also bombed Iranian ports last week.
According to a report from NBC News, the Pentagon is considering renaming the war with Iran from “Operation Epic Fury” to “Operation Sledgehammer,” and the White House believes giving the conflict a new name would reset the War Powers clock. But all of the hostilities are still part of the same war that the US and Israel launched on February 28.
