House Democrats fail to fracture GOP support for Trump's Iran strategy in war powers vote
House Democrats failed again Thursday to fracture Republicans’ support for President Donald Trump's Iran strategy as GOP lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected an effort to curb his war powers.
The House of Representatives deadlocked in a 212–212 vote, blocking a resolution offered by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., that would have forced Trump to end hostilities against Iran absent congressional authorization.
Every Democratic lawmaker except for Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted for the measure. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a leading Trump foe, and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Barrett, R-Mich., were the lone Republicans to cross-party lines in support of the resolution.
Several lawmakers in both parties did not vote.
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The failed vote comes after peace talks between Washington and Tehran stalled in recent weeks, though the ceasefire has largely stayed intact despite sporadic fighting.
Trump said Monday the ceasefire was "on life support" and reiterated his demand that Iran end its nuclear program.
Amid the stalemate, congressional Democrats have linked the war to voter concern about affordability in an effort to pressure GOP lawmakers to buck the president.
"The single fastest way to bring down costs is to end this war," House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on the House floor Wednesday. "And once again, Republicans are going to have an opportunity to do just that. Once again, they have a chance to bring our service members home and end this chaos."
But Republicans have argued that limiting Trump’s war powers could undermine his ability to end the conflict.
"By putting an arbitrary limitation on America's ability to deploy both kinetic as well as diplomatic pressure on Iran, I think it ends up harming our ability to negotiate, to get Iran to stand down," Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"What I've seen from the president is a clear desire to stop Iran's ability from having a nuclear weapon and in their ability to be the number one sponsor of state terrorism," he added.
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The vast majority of Republicans have continued to stand by Trump’s Iran strategy despite the administration cruising past a 60-day deadline to seek congressional approval of the conflict.
The president has argued the indefinite ceasefire that began April 7 effectively stopped the clock. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also contended that the 1973 War Powers Resolution giving Congress a say over the use of military force is unconstitutional.
Across the Capitol, GOP support for the war in Iran appears to be on shakier ground.
The Senate narrowly defeated a war powers resolution on Wednesday, the seventh attempt from Democrats since Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28, that would have ended hostilities with Iran.
Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, crossed party lines to support the measure curbing Trump’s war powers while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined Republicans in opposition. Just one more GOP yes vote would have allowed the resolution to clear the chamber.
Murkowski, who flipped her vote to support the war powers resolution, said Wednesday that the administration’s timeline in Iran "has taken us beyond the 60 days" deadline for Congress to authorize or halt the conflict.
She had hoped the administration would provide more clarity, but that information hadn't come, prompting her to join with Democrats in curbing Trump’s war powers.
"We're in a different place than we were last time we voted on this," Murkowski said.
A Fox News poll published in late April found that 55% of Americans oppose military action against Iran. Nearly six in ten respondents said the war will not improve the safety of Americans enough to justify military action.