President Trump on Thursday attacked House lawmakers as “unpatriotic” for passing a War Powers Resolution that would direct him to end the war with Iran, which he launched with Israel without congressional authorization, in violation of the US Constitution.
The bill passed on Wednesday in a vote of 215 to 208, with four Republicans joining Democrats in support of the effort. The resolution now heads to the Senate, where it has a chance of passing since the upper chamber advanced a similar War Powers Resolution last month.
“Yesterday, in a meaningless vote, the House voted, 4 bad Republicans and all of the Dumocrats, to limit my War Powers, right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Who would do such an unpatriotic thing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“They know where the negotiations stand. The Democrats are fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome. They would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories. The four Republicans, that’s a whole other story – They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves. MAGA!!!” the president added.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the only House Republican to support all four attempts to pass an Iran War Powers Resolution, responded to Trump in a post on X, writing, “Sir, we have Trump disappointment syndrome. When you said no new wars, we took it to heart, and a few of us meant it.”
The bill the House passed on Wednesday is a concurrent resolution, which means the president cannot veto it. It is the specific type of legislation that Congress is meant to use under the 1973 War Powers Act to reassert its authority under the Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to declare war.
Section 5(c) of the 1973 War Powers Act states that “at any time that United States Armed Forces are engaged in hostilities outside the territory of the United States, its possessions and territories without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution.”
The Trump administration has declared that it views the War Powers Act as unconstitutional, though it has taken efforts to work within its parameters.
The law, which doesn’t supersede the Constitution, includes a 60-day deadline with a potential 30-day extension for the president to end any unauthorized military action or obtain authorization from Congress, a deadline that has been falsely reinterpreted to allow 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. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed to Congress that the “war is over” despite continued US attacks on commercial ships, which Iran responded to on Tuesday night by targeting US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who also supported the Iran War Powers Resolution, rejected the interpretation of the 1973 law related to the 60 or 90-day deadline and said the administration is also looking for other ways to justify continuing the war.
“Many falsely claimed the War Powers Act empowers a president to wage any war for up to 90 days. That’s not true, but there are now new ways rationalize war in Iran. What they still don’t have? Congressional authorization,” Davidson wrote on X. “The oath is to our Constitution.”
