The House is expected to vote on a War Powers Resolution on Tuesday meant to end US support for Israel’s war in Lebanon, which continues despite several announcements of a “ceasefire” and a recent agreement signed between Israel and the Lebanese government.
Call your House representative and tell them to support H.Con.Res.108 to end US involvement in the war, which has killed more than 4,200 Lebanese since March 2, and is one of the main threats to the implementation of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which explicitly states the conflict in Lebanon must end.
Earlier this month, the House voted on a Lebanon War Powers Resolution that was introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), but it didn’t have the support of Democratic leadership and failed in a vote of 92-324, with just one Republican — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — joining 91 Democrats in supporting the effort.
Democratic leadership had issues with the language in the initial War Powers Resolution over claims that it could impact US support for the Lebanese military and instructed Tlaib to introduce another one that they would back. The current War Powers Resolution would direct President Trump to “remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Lebanon” and states that “nothing in this concurrent resolution may be construed to prevent or limit security cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces or the protection of diplomatic facilities.”
The bill is a concurrent resolution, which means it doesn’t require the president’s signature and is the specific type of legislation designated by the 1973 War Powers Act for Congress to use to end US involvement in an unauthorized 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.”
Both the House and the Senate have already passed a concurrent resolution to end the US war against Iran, and leaders of the effort, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), say the recent US strikes violated the resolution. “Trump must stop this war now — or we will take him to court to compel him to do so,” Khanna said on Saturday as the US and Iran were trading strikes.
