The House of Representatives narrowly defeated a measure to invoke the War Powers Resolution to end the conflict with Iran on Thursday in a mostly party-line vote.
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) was the lone Democrat to oppose the resolution, siding with Republicans to defeat the effort to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities by 213 to 214.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian who frequently opposes foreign policy measures, was the only Republican to vote in favor of the motion. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who previously joined Massie in voting to invoke the War Powers Resolution, voted Present on Thursday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) accused U.S. President Donald Trump of engaging in a “reckless war of choice” in the floor debate before the vote.
“We’re just trying to help Donald Trump bring to life his own words that as president, he wasn’t going to start wars in the Middle East,” Jeffries said.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) proposed the resolution, which would direct Trump “to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, other than those elements of the armed forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack.”The Senate voted down a similar resolution on Wednesday that likewise fell on mostly party lines.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to oppose invoking the War Powers Resolution while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted in favor in the 47 to 52 vote.
Under the War Powers Resolution, the president has 60 days to seek congressional authorization for military operations before U.S. forces must be withdrawn. That deadline falls on April 28. The constitutionality of those provisions has not been tested, and Trump might seek to bypass that deadline by other means.
