One Democrat Sinks Iran War Powers Resolution to Rein in Trump

The House of Representatives voted down a war powers resolution that would have restricted President Trump’s war in Iran by just one vote Thursday, 214–213.

Representative Thomas Massie was the lone Republican to vote in favor of the measure, while Republican Representative Warren Davidson voted present and three Republicans abstained.

Every Democrat voted for the resolution except for Representative Jared Golden of Maine.

Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks proposed the bill, which “directs the President to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” making exceptions for extreme cases, “unless explicitly authorized” by Congress.

Before the vote, Meeks said on the House floor, “Donald Trump has dragged the American people into a war of choice, launched without congressional authorization. The president has no coherent strategy, and this open-ended, undefined military engagement is precisely what the War Powers Resolution was designed to restrain. Every day we delay, we inch closer to a conflict with no exit ramp.”

Golden also voted against a war powers resolution March 5, writing in a statement at the time that “The president has so far acted within the authorities given to him by Congress through the War Powers Act of 1973. He has been briefing Congress, and he has 60 days to make his case for ongoing operations. This is not an illegal war — but it could become one.”

Since then, despite damage to multiple schools and medical facilities in Iran as a result of the war, Golden is the only Democrat in the House who thinks that Trump’s Iran war hasn’t crossed any lines. Symbolic or not, Thursday’s vote shows that Congress is willing to let Trump keep using the military however he sees fit.

This story has been updated.