House Republicans cancel vote on war powers resolution to end US war in Iran | House of Representatives
House Republicans on Thursday canceled a planned vote on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the war between the United States and Iran, a measure that likely would have moved forward if the vote had taken place.
The cancellation, which spared Donald Trump political embarrassment, is the latest signal that congressional support for the US president’s war is waning.
The top three House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, called Republican leaders “cowards” for overturning the vote.
“For nearly three months, Donald Trump forced America and our men and women in uniform into a reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth took us to war without clear goals, without an exit strategy, without public support or authorization required by the United States Congress,” the Democrats said in a statement.
“The Republican-controlled House continues to behave like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump administration. Republicans cowardly canceled a planned vote on a war powers resolution – legislation that would have passed with bipartisan support and would have required the president to end the conflict in the Middle East,” they added.
The vote was postponed until lawmakers returned from the June recess, but it seemed likely the resolution could pass then.
According to Politico, Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican representative from the Philadelphia area who broke with his party last week to vote for the latest Iran war powers resolution and who was attacked by Donald Trump on Wednesday, said the delay would not prevent the resolution from passing soon. “The next time they bring it, it will be fleeting,” he said.
Among the Republican House members absent Thursday but expected to be present when the resolution is voted on in June was Thomas Massie, the Kentucky representative who has criticized the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Massie lost a primary election this week to a Trump-backed candidate who was encouraged to run after the president became angered by Massie’s role in forcing the Justice Department to release investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender with whom Trump socialized for nearly two decades.
Earlier this week in the Senate, four Republicans joined Democrats to advance the war powers resolution. This was the eighth time the House attempted to advance the bill.
