US House Backs Trump’s Iran Strikes After Rejecting War Powers Resolution

WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday that would have halted President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, providing the clearest picture yet of congressional support for the rapidly widening conflict.

The vote, 212-219, came one day after the Senate defeated a similar measure. Lawmakers now confront the reality of representing Americans in wartime — with lives lost, dollars spent, and alliances tested by a president’s decision to act without congressional approval.

At the Capitol, the debate quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many veterans of those conflicts now serve in Congress.

“Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned it would be “dangerous” to limit the president’s authority while US forces are already engaged.

“We are not at war,” Johnson said, contradicting others who described the operation as exactly that. The Louisiana Republican, a close Trump ally, said the mission is limited in scope and duration, and “nearly accomplished.”

Party Lines and Crossover Votes

Republicans largely back Trump’s actions, viewing the conflict not as the start of a new war but as an opportunity to end a government that has long menaced the West. The operation has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which some see as opening the door for regime change, though others warn of a chaotic power vacuum.

Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, thanked Trump for acting against what he called an “imminent threat.”

For most Democrats, Trump’s attack on Iran — influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — represents a war of choice that tests constitutional checks and balances.

“The framers weren’t fooling around,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland. The Constitution is clear, he argued, that only Congress can decide matters of war.

Two Republicans joined most Democrats in voting for the war powers resolution. Four Democrats crossed party lines to join Republicans in rejecting it.

The resolution, if signed into law, would have immediately halted Trump’s ability to conduct the war unless Congress approved the military action. The president would likely have vetoed it.

Shifting Explanations

Trump has worked to build support for the nearly week-old conflict as Americans of all political leanings take stock. Administration officials spent hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this week trying to reassure lawmakers they have the situation under control.

Six US service members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait. Trump has said more Americans could die. Thousands of Americans abroad have scrambled for flights, many contacting congressional offices for help fleeing the Middle East.

Trump said Thursday he must be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader. Yet Johnson said this week that America has enough problems at home and is not about to be in the “nation-building business.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the war could extend eight weeks — twice as long as the president first estimated. Trump has left open the possibility of sending US troops into what has largely been a bombing campaign. More than 1,230 people in Iran have died.

The administration says the goal is to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles, which it believes are shielding its nuclear program. Officials have also said Israel was ready to act, and American bases would face retaliation if the US did not strike first. The US said Wednesday it torpedoed an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka.

“This administration can’t even give us a straight answer as to why we launched this preemptive war,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who broke with his party to support the war powers resolution.

Voices for and Against

Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, a Democrat and daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled their homeland, said she opposes the regime but is concerned that a democratic transition for the Iranian people never seems a priority for Trump or the officials who briefed Congress.

“War carries profound and deadly consequences for our troops, for the American people and for the entire world,” she said. “It’s the most serious decision that a nation can make.”

Other Democrats proposed an alternative resolution that would allow the president to continue the war for 30 days before seeking congressional approval. The House also approved a separate measure affirming that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Senate Showdown

In the Senate, Republican leaders have successfully defeated war powers resolutions related to several conflicts during Trump’s second term. Wednesday’s vote carried particular weight.

Democratic senators sat at their desks as voting got underway — a departure from the usual practice of casting votes from elsewhere in the chamber.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said every senator would have to choose: “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East? Or with Trump and Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”

Sen. John Barrasso, the number two Senate Republican, offered a different framing: “Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Iran’s nuclear program.”

The legislation failed 47-53, largely along party lines. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to support it. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the lone Democrat to vote against it.

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