President Donald Trump faced resistance from within Congress on Wednesday after the House approved legislation that seeks to block further U.S. military operations against Iran, with several Republican lawmakers breaking ranks to support the measure alongside Democrats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent an outcome that would show the mounting opposition to the war, abruptly shutting down floor action two weeks ago when the war powers resolution was on the verge of approval. But displeasure has only grown as the conflict drags on and as Trump struggles to negotiate a quick resolution.
The roll call Wednesday was 215-208, and cheers erupted in the House chamber.
"This reckless and costly war of choice needs to end today,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said earlier in the week.
"All we need are a handful of Republicans to join us and we can end this reckless and costly war of choice - a war that has cost the American taxpayer over $100 billion - that’s extraordinary - and left our country in a weaker position relative to Iran.”
It’s the fourth time the House has tried to curb the U.S. war against Iran, and the first time the House was able to pass the measure. The Senate advanced its own war powers resolution last month when a handful of GOP senators broke ranks with the Republican president in a rare show of political pushback from his party.
Each time Democrats have pushed forward the war powers resolution, the vote tallies have inched higher as political unease with the U.S. war swells. Trump had campaigned for the White House on a promise to end U.S. entanglements abroad and focus more on domestic issues, but the war has shifted attention back to the Middle East.
Johnson insisted Trump is "laser focused” on the domestic front, particularly ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
The speaker said he spent three hours at the White House with the president this week, as Trump is calling on allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commerce, especially the flow of oil.
Since the U.S. joined Israel in launching the Feb. 28 strikes on Iran, Americans have seen gas prices spike at the pumps, adding to inflationary pressure on consumer spending.
Iran has been able to interrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital channel for a large segment of the world’s oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilizer.
"We’re working on that final piece,” said Johnson, R-La. "The entire world has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz being reopen for commerce. That what he’s working on.”
While a cease-fire in the conflict was declared in April, it remains uneasy and uncertain. Talks for a more durable end to the fighting have dragged, increasingly complicated by Israel’s broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Meanwhile, military strikes between the U.S and Iran continue to flare.
The War Powers Resolution from the House would not immediately stop the war, but it would provide a symbolic if not legal step against further military action.
If approved, it would then go to the Senate, where four Republican senators last month joined Democrats in advancing a similar measure to curtail the U.S. campaign against Iran. The Senate has yet to take a final vote to approve or reject its own war powers resolution.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday, testifying at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, that the Iranians would think that the administration's "hands are going to be tied” if Congress approved a war powers resolution. He said they would think ”we won’t be able to do anything to them, so why make a deal?”
It's not the only action Congress is taking in the national security arena as Democrats, in the minority, work to peel off Republican support for measures beyond the war against Iran.
The House is also voting Wednesday on another Democratic-led effort that would authorize U.S. support for Ukraine's military operations as it battles Russia and to help reconstruct the war-torn country. The House this week is also expected to consider a war powers resolution to block U.S. action in Lebanon.
While Congress has the authority under the Constitution to declare war, the president also has power as the commander in chief to engage in military action, creating a legal dispute over which branch of government has ultimate say in matters of war and peace.
Under the War Powers Act, the White House has a 60-day window to seek approval from Congress for military action. The administration, however, has indicated that because a cease-fire has been declared in the current conflict in Iran, the hostilities have ceased.
