House Democrats struggled to disrupt Republican backing for President Donald Trump’s Iran strategy on Thursday. Republican lawmakers largely dismissed attempts to limit the president’s war powers.
The House reached a stalemate with a 212-212 vote, effectively blocking a resolution from Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D.N.J.) aimed at mandating the cessation of hostilities against Iran without Congressional consent.
Most Democrats supported the bill, except for Rep. Jared Golden from Maine. Among the few Republican backers were Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a noted Trump critic, as well as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.).
It’s worth noting that several members from both sides chose not to vote.
This rejection follows a recent stall in peace talks between Washington and Tehran, though a ceasefire has mostly been maintained, despite some intermittent clashes.
On Monday, President Trump described the ceasefire as being “on life support” and reiterated his demand for Iran to stop its nuclear ambitions.
As the deadlock continues, some Congressional Democrats are tying the conflict to rising affordability concerns for voters, hoping to sway Republicans against Trump. “The quickest way to lower costs is to end this war,” Democratic Rep. Catherine Clark from Massachusetts stated on the House floor. “Once again, Republicans have a chance to bring our troops home and put an end to this chaos.”
On the flip side, Republicans argue that restricting Trump’s war powers might hinder his capacity to resolve conflicts effectively.
“Putting limits on the U.S.’s ability to apply both military and diplomatic pressure against Iran doesn’t help in our negotiations,” said Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) in an interview. He emphasized the importance of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Despite some turbulence, a substantial number of Republicans continue to back Trump’s approach to Iran, even as a 60-day deadline for seeking Congressional approval for military action approaches.
President Trump claims that the ceasefire initiated on April 7 has essentially paused any time constraints. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio contended that the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which requires Congressional input for military action, is unconstitutional.
Outside of Congress, support among Republicans for the Iran conflict is appearing increasingly unstable.
The Senate recently voted narrowly to reject a war powers resolution that sought to conclude hostilities with Iran—marking the seventh such attempt by Democrats since the onset of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.
Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are among those from both parties supporting Trump’s force reduction instead, while Sen. John Fetterman (D) opposed them. Just one more affirmative Republican vote could have led to the resolution’s passage.
Sen. Murkowski, who retracted her vote in favor of the War Powers Resolution, pointed out that the Iranian regime’s actions had pushed the situation beyond the “60-day” threshold for Congressional authorization.
She had hoped for more transparency from the administration but, finding it lacking, she opted to collaborate with Democrats to constrain Trump’s military powers.
Murkowski acknowledged, “We’re in a different situation than when we last voted on this.” A poll conducted by Fox News in late April indicated that 55% of Americans oppose military actions against Iran, with nearly 60% believing that war wouldn’t significantly enhance American safety enough to warrant military intervention.
