House defies Trump, votes for resolution against Iran war
June 3 (UPI) — The U.S. House of Representatives voted 215-208 on Wednesdayto pass a measure directing President Donald Trump to remove U.S. troops from the conflict with Iran unless Congress votes to allow the conflict. Four Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the measure.
The measure is largely symbolic, as both chambers of Congress must pass it — and then Trump is sure to veto it. Still, this marks the first time the House has come together to pass this symbol of disapproval for the war.
Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; Tom Barrett, R-Mich.; and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, joined the Democrats in the vote. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, who had voted against previous measures, also joined his party on the vote.
This follows a similar measure passed by the Senate in May, in which four Republicans (Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana) joined most Democrats (barring Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania) to pass. It was unclear Wednesday when the Senate might vote to pass this House version, CBS News reported.
Even if both chambers pass the measure, Trump can still veto it, and each chamber would need two-thirds support to override that.
The 1973 War Powers Act gives the U.S. president 48 hours to notify Congress in writing if deploying U.S. forces without a congressional declaration of war. U.S. forces attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with Trump notifyingCongress on March 2.
The act further gives the president 60 days to act unilaterally in the defense of the United States without a declaration of war from Congress. May 1 marked the end of that 60 days counted from March 2, but the administration and some congressional Republicans are arguing that the count stopped with the cease-fire reached on April 7. Both United States and Iranian forces have attacked each other since then.
Republicans opposing the measure have said that it undermines Trump and U.S. negotiators. The president has gone back and forth on the status of the negotiations, telling CNBC on Monday that peace talks were starting “to get very boring” and that he didn’t care if they were over.
The House also passed a measure Wednesday that could bring forward a measure that could provide aid for Ukraine. That sets up a vote Thursday, NBC News reported.