The Republican-led US House of Representatives approved a resolution Wednesday to block President Donald Trump from continuing the war against Iran, reflecting growing concern among members of the party about the 3-month-old conflict.
Reuters reports that it was the latest setback for Trump in Congress despite his party’s slim majorities in both the House and the Senate.
For now, the vote is largely symbolic, as legislation must pass the Senate as well as the House to become effective, and three is debate over whether war powers resolutions would be constitutional even if they are approved by Congress.
The vote, nonetheless, reflects unease among some Republicans over Trump’s handling of the conflict and marks a rare bipartisan effort to curb presidential war powers as the war has entered a fourth month. Three previous war powers resolutions had failed in the House by increasingly slim margins, and the chamber’s Republican leaders abruptly postponed a vote on this one last month when it looked likely to pass.
Trump on Tuesday morning called the vote unpatriotic, coming “right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” In a social media post, he said the Republicans who sided with Democrats on the issue should be ashamed of themselves.
The Senate advanced a separate, but similar resolution last month in a procedural vote, afyer seven previous attempts had failed. Further votes on the Senate measure have not yet been scheduled.
No Democrat voted against it. Seven House members did not vote.
