Congress Declines To Halt Iran War

The House rebuffed an effort to halt war with Iran on Thursday, as Republicans teamed with a handful of Democrats to grant President Donald Trump free rein to conduct the vast military campaign.

House lawmakers, in a tight 212-219 vote, rejected a bipartisan war powers resolution that would require Congress to sign off on Middle East operations, a day after the Senate voted against a similar measure.

The back-to-back defeats of war powers legislation come as top officials warn U.S. military operations will soon intensify. And it signals that Trump’s fellow Republicans are sticking with him on Iran — at least publicly.

Republicans benefitted from Democratic defections to help defeat the Iran war measure, which was offered by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

While only two GOP lawmakers, Massie and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), broke ranks to oppose Trump, four Democrats defied their party to help kill the legislation.

Administration officials made the case for Trump’s decision to bomb Iran alongside Israel in hearings and classified briefings this week. They portrayed the massive assault as a targeted effort to destroy Tehran’s missile program and other military capabilities, rather than wholescale regime change, even as they’ve failed to explain what ultimate victory would look like and said the fighting could extend for some time.

And that message was muddled Thursday as Trump vowed to get involved in selecting the next leader of Iran after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial onslaught.

Advocates of the war powers effort argued Congress has been circumvented, pointing to the administration’s shifting rationale for the campaign and the lack of a clear timeline and endgame.

"What are our objectives? How will this all end?” asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “If this military action, this war, is so principled, why is the president unwilling or unable to make his case directly to the American people?"

The small number of Republicans who backed the measure expressed grave concerns about Congress ceding its constitutional duty to declare war to the White House. In addition to Massie, a cosponsor of the measure who has long questioned expansive presidential war powers, Davidson warned on the House floor that “America is a republic, not an empire.”

"President Trump's America First message was supposed to be a rejection of the globalist war machine," said Davidson, an Army veteran. "War may well be necessary, but it far more pressing that we restore a government small enough to fit within the Constitution."

But while Republicans limited their defections on the high stakes vote, Democrats weren’t fully united. The rift became apparent in the wake of the attacks, which began Saturday, when some Democrats expressed support for backing Israel and degrading Iran’s military.

A half dozen centrist House Democrats on Tuesday introduced their own war powers resolution that would cut off operations within 30 days unless Congress authorizes military action. The alternative clashes with Massie and Khanna’s resolution, which would mandate an immediate U.S. withdrawal from the conflict.

Top Republicans so far have downplayed suggestions that the U.S. could be drawn into another protracted Middle East war, echoing the administration's argument that Iran’s military missile stockpiles posed a threat to U.S. troops and allies.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, argued that lawmakers should focus on “ensuring our warfighters have the resources and capabilities they need to succeed in this operation” rather than debating the legality of the war.

“We should not pass any resolution that will end this critical operation before achieving these military objectives,” Rogers said. “Doing so would needlessly risk the lives of American servicemembers and American allies."