WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives passed a resolution on Wednesday to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran and seek congressional approval for further military action in the country.
The 215-208 vote, in which four Republicans voted with all Democrats to approve the resolution, is the strongest rebuke yet of Trump’s handling of the months-long war that has left more than a dozen military troops dead, killed thousands of Iranian civilians and disrupted global fertilizer and oil supply chains by blocking the Horiz Strait.
War Powers RESOLUTION nearly passed the House last month but failed in a 212-212 tie. The measure is a tool for Congress to limit the president’s ability to initiate or escalate military action.
Several similar efforts in the Senate have failed. However, after the Republican primary loss of Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana joined Democrats and several GOP senators in a vote to advance the measure. A final passage vote on the Senate measure has not been scheduled.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sponsored the resolution in that chamber.
Michigan D-Rep. Rashida Tlaib has a special fighting power RESOLUTION this would force the president to withdraw troops from Lebanon. Israel, armed and funded by the United States, has launched an attack on that nation.
The passage of the resolution in the GOP-controlled House was the latest sign of growing dissent against Trump among congressional Republicans.
Senate Republicans opposed Trump’s efforts to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay people they believe were wrongly prosecuted by the Justice Department, including those convicted and later pardoned by the president for the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
The Trump administration withdrew from the fund after disputes over it halted work on legislation to fund immigration and deportation activities for the rest of the president’s second term.
